家族忠誠: Her Family
by DazzleQT
Summary: ...It takes a special kind of loyalty for one who has lost everything to return to the place where it all started. Pairing: Takuya/Izumi no matter what R&R! Chapter 10 & 11: Her Family & Epilogue. **COMPLETE**
1. Izumi

**A/N:** Hey, this is my first fanfic. It's kind of AU, for a proper reason, but the personalities are mostly the same.

**I do not own Digimon Frontier.**

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**Her Family**

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**Izumi Orimoto  
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"JP, I thought you would understand."

Two tall silhouettes could be made out in the dark blue blanket of the night sky. One of them stayed quiet, the severity of the situation was too heavy for him to speak.

JP looked at Izumi as she swung ever so slightly in her tree swing. For the past few days she had looked sicker, paler, sadder. But never would he have ever guesses the reason for her inter depression was…

"Why did you tell me this?" he asked at length.

"Because someone had to know, and I know how much you care for me!" she exclaimed, raising her voice for the first time that night. "You should know how unrequited love feels so that you would know why I am doing this."

Izumi stood up after hearing JP's silence, "You should get some sleep. School starts in a few hours."

JP's hands began to tremble, ignoring what she just said. "But this isn't the way, Izumi…"

Even through the darkness he could see diamond like tears fall from her eyes.

"JP, if I stay here another day like this, I won't survive…"

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Takuya walked through the streets, diligently carrying his black-and-red umbrella over his head.

_The rain sure is coming down really hard today._

On his way to the bus stop, he always stopped by Izumi's house. Sometimes, they'd walk to the stop together. Today was no exception.

He saw her, standing before the large iron gates of her house. She had her backpack slung around her shoulder.

Perhaps if it weren't raining, he would have noticed the tearstains on her face…

"Good morning, Izumi!" Takuya walked up to her. She turned her head to him, nodding as an acknowledgment to his presence.

"Aren't you annoyed by the rain?" he asked as he put his umbrella over her head, noticing that she had no umbrella of her own.

She stepped out from under his umbrella. "Takuya, my ride will be here any minute."

"Ride? So you won't be taking the bus to school today?" he asked, once again putting the umbrella over her head.

"No, Takuya, I won't be taking the bus to school today," she replied, controlling the cracks in her voice. Once again, she stepped out from under his umbrella.

Takuya stared at the girl curiously for a moment. There was some sort of tension in the air. But why?

"Well, see you later, Izu-chan," he said, starting to walk towards the bus stop which was another couple of blocks away.

He walked away just in time to not hear Izumi say, "No you won't, Takuya…"

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"Hey, JP!" Takuya yelled as he met his friend at the stop.

JP grunted. He was in no mood to talk to Takuya today.

"You and Izumi are weird. Aren't you getting wet from the rain?" Takuya asked, realizing that JP also had no umbrella.

"You saw her today?" JP asked incredulously. Takuya seemed completely indifferent to Izumi's state of being.

"Yeah. She's getting a ride to school today," Takuya explained. "That's why she's not with me."

"Takuya," JP choked out, causing Takuya goosebumps with the coldness of his voice, "how can you be so foolish?"

"Um? ...JP?" Takuya asked, confused.

"She's not going to school."

"And why not?"

"She's leaving."

"JP--what!"

"She's leaving," JP repeated. Takuya could see how upset JP was over this: his dark brown eyes became pools of teary waters.

"And if I'm not mistaken, her ride should have picked her up five minutes ago."

Takuya didn't let what JP just said settle in. He sprinted to Izumi's house, his black-and-red umbrella left on the ground, drowning in the rain.

He made it to her house, and thanked the heavens that she was still there, standing sullenly before her house's main gates. He ran up to her, and Izumi looked up in time to see him grab her and make her look at him.

"Izumi!" he exclaimed, panting. "Wh--What is all of this!"

"Nothing," she spoke. Blonde wisps of hair were pressed against her forehead, making her green eyes look even larger.

How could he have not noticed the tears before?

"Where the hell are you going?" he hissed.

"Why do you care?"

"Because you're my friend!"

"And yet you never take me seriously!" more tears escaped her eyes, despite her attempts to stop them. He immediately let go of her and stared at her with shock.

"…What…?" Takuya looked so taken aback as she said those words. Not take her seriously? But she was Izumi, the one and only…The one who always wore silly hats on her head, the one who always talked about Italy, the one…

"Izumi, there's something I have to tell you," he said slowly, having no control over his own words. He reached out to her, but she slapped his hand away immediately.

"Don't touch me!" she shrieked.

Takuya tried to ignore the sharp pain that he felt in his chest as she looked at him with such anger in her eyes.

"Please, Izu-chan, there's something I think you should know!"

"But I don't want to hear it, please-"

"Just let me tell you!"

"No! Leave me alone like you have for the past few years!"

"Why are you even leaving?"

"That's not important."

"You didn't even tell us that you were going somewhere…"

"This," she gulped, "this decision wasn't planned."

"Then why would JP know?" he asked bitterly.

A black car came driving down the street. It pulled up to where Izumi was standing near the curb.

"Because someone had to tell you why…Takuya Kanbara," she spat his name out. As she was getting into the car, Takuya grabbed her arm so that she couldn't let go.

"Goddamn it girl, you have to hear what I have to say!"

Izumi let go of the car door handle and brought up her hand to Takuya's face. One would have thought she would slap him, but inside, she touched his cheek, more and more tears breaking from her eyes.

What seemed like eternity passed in the span of a few mere seconds. She shook her head.

"No…No…No."

She wrenched herself away from him with force. As she got into the car, Takuya looked as if the life were being pulled out of him.

"Izumi, please!"

But she quickly slammed the door behind her. The car started to drive away.

Millions of raindrops hit his skin, but he was far too numb to even feel them.

After a moment or two, JP came up behind Takuya.

"She left, didn't she?" he asked as his voice cracked more and more with every breath he took.

Takuya whipped his head and stared at JP with an icy glare.

"Where did she go?"

"I don't know, Taku-"

"LIAR! Tell me where she went NOW!" He screamed with a voice he didn't know he had.

"She didn't tell me, Takuya…"

"I'll follow her. I have to. I'm the one to protect her." In his heart, he knew that Izumi was an extremely independent girl. She didn't need anyone to protect her. But he had to be by her side. "She needs me there. I have to be there for her."

"Don't act crazy."

"I HAVE TO FOLLOW HER! IZUMI! WAIT! I'LL FIND YOU, WAIT!"

JP watched as his friend sprinted down the street, trying to catch the car that had already disappeared from sight.

"I'LL FOLLOW YOU, IZUMI! JUST PLEASE, WAIT!"

"Takuya," JP said, "she left because of you."

"What did you just say?"

"It was all because of you, Takuya," JP repeated. "She couldn't stand being near you anymore."

Takuya felt his body tremble. Did Izumi really hate him that much?

"But why?" he stammered, thinking out loud.

JP shook his head. "Takuya, think. All those times she told you she loved you, she wasn't talking about friendship…"

…it wasn't friendship?

…….how could he be so stupid!

"…and she knew you could never take her seriously…"

….he took everything she did seriously. Why didn't she know that?

"…she knew that your feelings for her would never be what hers were for you…"

…she didn't know that…If only she let him speak!

"…she loved you so much, that it nearly destroyed her to think you could never love her back…"

"DAMN IT! IZUMI!" Takuya yelled exasperatedly, getting nothing but the rain and his own echo as an answer.

"…and she told me, that, she couldn't come back. Not now, at least."

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Five years later

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A young adult woman stood outside the gates she once called home. She grabbed one of the large iron posts as she sighed. All those memories she had here.

All those memories she missed…

Could anyone really understand the turmoil she went through? The past five years, she tried to rid her heart of all its happiness. In other words, she tried to rid her heart of him.

She took in the scent she could never forget: sakura flowers and rain, the sweet aroma of Japan.

She looked down the street at the curb she had left him at. To this day she remembered the way he pleaded to her. She had always wondered why he cared so much that she was leaving.

It was friendship at most, she convinced herself.

Those years, spent in Italy, living away from her life and heart. All those years, convincing herself that love was highly overrated. Crying herself to sleep for how many months, she learned the heart is terrible at choosing.

"You're back."

She gasped. She wasn't expecting this, no, not at all. She had just returned home from the airport. She didn't even turn around to face the reason she left.

"Did you enjoy your vacation?" his voice sounded so bitter. Was he mad at her? He had no right to be.

She turned to face him. After five years, he had hardly changed. His eyes were the same shade of chocolate brown. His hair was still disheveled and it still brushed his neck. He grew a few inches.

After all those years trying to collect herself, his blank stare still made her fall to pieces.

"Hey, Takuya," she squeaked. Did he notice that she wasn't so sad anymore?

It was then that she noticed Takuya had a small infant hiding behind his leg. The small girl, three years old at most, looked carefully at Izumi with one eye while the other eye remained hidden behind Takuya's leg.

"Hello," Izumi greeted the small girl. "Who might you be?"

But before Izumi got her reply, another voice called out to her.

"Izumi!" JP cried. He ran up to her after he had noticed her pale blonde head a block away. As he ran to her, he embraced her in a hug.

"Hey, JP," Izumi said slowly, smiling.

The little girl tugged at Takuya's pant leg. "Father, who is she?"

Izumi immediately looked up. He had a child. He was happy now.

"Just an old …friend," Takuya replied gently.

Izumi released herself from JP's embrace, trying not to notice the way JP looked up at her nervously.

"You know," Izumi said softly, kneeling down to the girl's level, "you still haven't told me who you are."

"Izu-" Takuya started to say, but was cut off by the small girl.

"I was named after the only woman my father ever loved!" the girl exclaimed proudly, coming out from behind Takuya.

"Oh, really?" Izumi asked quietly. Suddenly she didn't want to know her name.

"Yeah," the little child chirped. "My name's Izumi!"


	2. JP

**A/N: I do not own Digimon Frontier.**

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**Junpei Shibayama**

"JP, there's something you should know," she spoke softly as soon as he entered her front lawn. He hadn't even said "Hey" before she started speaking, her voice barely over a whisper.

JP tentatively approached her. "You can tell me anything, Izumi," he reassured. A small smile spread across her pink lips. She rocked her swing slightly, listening to the night's breeze before she responded.

"If you're sure…"

"Anything! You don't have to keep anything from me!"

She stopped her swing and looked at him with sharp, emerald eyes. "I know how much you care for me, JP, and that it is not friendship you look for with me."

JP felt the breath get sucked out of him. Subconsciously, his eyes widened and sweat started beading up all around his body. Panicked thoughts raced through his brain: _How did she know? Does she love me back?_

However, before he could possibly go into a further state of hyperventilation, Izumi stood up and came to JP. She put both her hands on his shoulders, telling him to soothe himself.

"…Honestly, I really believe that you can have any girl you want! You're a wonderful person! You're funny, nice, witty…Do you see what I'm getting at?"

JP, numb at her touch, nodded very slowly.

"…However…"

He should have been expecting this. Why wasn't he surprised that she would say this?

A fiery image flashed through his mind as she said the last word…

"My heart…That is to say, I lo--I …care for…someone else," she stammered. JP could see how much she was restraining the tears.

"It's Takuya, isn't it, Izumi?" JP snorted. Izumi let go of him and turned away, nodding her head.

"Was it that obvious?"

JP said nothing. Disgusted, he looked at the night sky, the trees, the grass, anything but her. Izumi sat back down on her swing.

"I…I'm glad you figured out it was Takuya," she said softly. "It's because of him I am talking to you right now."

JP looked worriedly at her. "What did that… person do? Did he say something insulting to you?" he asked, fists clenched.

"JP…please, just let me finish?" Her voice was a meek plea. JP's anger was instantly replaced by apprehension.

"Ok then…this isn't easy to say…" She looked at him carefully before continuing. "He doesn't take my words seriously. I told him, several times, about my feelings, but he counters with how he loves all his friends, too, and sometimes I wonder whether he can be that naïve, or if he is really ignoring what I have to say."

"I don't think he's ignoring you, Izumi…"

"But if he really did have any feelings towards me, he'd do something, say something, anything that say to me he and I are more than just friends. And JP, you don't know how much I care for him…how much I love him…"

"Izumi, what are you saying?"

"JP, I'm leaving," she blurted out. She put her hands on her mouth, but the words had already been spoken. She looked at him apologetically, but he just stared at her in disbelief.

"Izumi, surely he can't cause you so much pain!"

"JP, I thought you would understand."

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He couldn't get any sleep that night, and how could he?

JP, I'm leaving

I'm leaving

Leaving

Was it really possible to care for someone that much? Did it really hurt her so much every time she saw Takuya and knew that he could never return her feelings? Could her love really be that strong?

He kept his hands clasped under his head as he lay on his bed and stared up at his ceiling. How could he sleep knowing that Izumi was packing her bags at the moment?

He kept muttering foul curses at Takuya. His naïveté was no excuse to continually misjudge Izumi's feelings…

Before he knew it, his alarm clock started buzzing. He felt a weight drop to the pits of his stomach.

Today was one day he knew Izumi was definitely not going to be on the bus today.

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It was raining, but his thoughts were too anxious to care. At his mother's urging, he threw an umbrella into his backpack incase the rain got severe.

As he walked past her house, he stopped short, seeing her soaking in the rain. To any passer-by, she would've looked normal: she donned her blue and white school uniform and all she had as any means of luggage was a backpack around her shoulder. She kept her head down, letting herself be overcome by the pouring water.

"Izumi," JP breathed as he saw her standing there, an air of melancholy surrounding her.

She looked up, as if surprised to see him there. "Good morning," she spoke at long last.

"I have an umbrella in my bag if you'd like one," he explained, but she shook her head.

"I…want to feel the rain. This will be my last rainstorm in Japan."

The heavy feeling in JP's stomach returned immediately. "Where are you going?" unaware to him, his voice was a hoarse whisper.

She shrugged and looked away. "I'm going abroad, to southern Italy, I think. My dad has a summer house there."

That explained why she wasn't bringing too much luggage.

"Didn't your parents wonder why you were leaving?"

"I told them I was having trouble with school and that I would feel more comfortable studying in Italy," she explained. "My ride should arrive in about twenty minutes or so."

JP finally asked the question that the two of them had been hesitant to ask:

"So is this goodbye?"

Izumi looked up at him, once again, her eyes startled. "Please don't say it like that, JP!"

But JP shook his head, knowing her real answer to the question. He came closer to her, kissed her cheek, and ran his hand once through her hair.

"Goodbye, Izumi," he whispered. Izumi's eyes shook with tears, but all JP could do was walk away, trying to make sure she wouldn't see his tears.

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"Hey, JP!"

JP didn't look up to see the source of that voice. How could he face Takuya today? Not now, not when Izumi was probably getting into a car and driving way from the two of them forever!

He could feel the weight of Takuya's stare, and he was about to ask what Takuya was staring at when Takuya spoke.

"You and Izumi are weird. Aren't you getting wet from the rain?"

What? He saw Izumi today? Didn't he care about why she was crying, or why she looked so miserable?

JP sent Takuya a stare of utter revulsion.

"You saw her today?"

"Yeah. She's getting a ride to school today. That's why she's not with me."

How could he be so stupid? She wasn't getting a ride. He had to tell Takuya, before he found out when Izumi didn't chow up to school…

"Takuya," he was surprised at the way his voice sounded, "how can you be so foolish?"

"Um? …JP?" His voice sounded sincerely….clueless. How could he not figure it out?

"She's not going to school."

"And why not?"

Because of you! His mind repeated over and over again.

"She's leaving." There. He said it. He didn't care anyway. If Izumi's ride was on time, then she should left a few minutes ago.

"JP--what!"

When JP saw the confusion in Takuya's eyes, he knew that Takuya had some depth of care for Izumi, but Izumi needed more than just _some_ depth.

"She's leaving." He felt tears swell up his eyes. "And if I'm not mistaken, her ride should have picked her up five minutes ago."

And then Takuya became a racing blur, his soccer legs propelling him away from JP. He knew that Takuya would do this. But he would do it for anyone.

After a few moments of waiting, JP forgot about the school bus and went to Izumi's house to pick up the mess Izumi left here in Japan.

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When JP returned to the front of Izumi's house, he just saw him, standing there numbly. Was he upset? It was a little late now to show any care.

"She left, didn't she?" The look Takuya gave him in response was one JP thought Takuya would never possess.

"Where did she go?"

Would Izumi want him to know? Probably not. So going against his better judgment, he lied.

"I don't know, Taku-" but Takuya didn't let him finish speaking.

"LIAR! Tell me where she went NOW!"

JP responded with yet another lie. "She didn't tell me, Takuya…"

Takuya, however, looked adamant. "I'll follow her. I have to. I'm the one to protect her. She needs me there. I have to be there for her."

"Don't act crazy."

"I HAVE TO FOLLOW HER! IZUMI! WAIT! I'LL FIND YOU, WAIT!"

Why was Takuya acting like he cared all of a sudden when all he did was not take Izumi seriously?

"I'LL FOLLOW YOU, IZUMI! JUST PLEASE, WAIT!"

JP had to stop this. "Takuya, she left because of you."

Takuya's screams ceased immediately. Takuya's cold glare sent shivers all over JP's body.

"What did you just say?"

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**Five years later**

Could it be?

The past five years, never forgetting the night Izumi told him everything. Never forgetting the memory of her soaked body, telling him how she wanted to feel her last rainstorm in Japan.

Everyday, he thought of her. He thought of her when he told all their other friends where Izumi really was after days without seeing their Italian friend. He thought of her every time he went on a swing. He thought of her every time he saw someone cry. He thought of her in his dreams. He thought of her every time it rained.

Where she had been for the past half decade, no one knew. She hadn't sent word to any of them. All they knew was that she was in southern Italy. What else did she tell them?

But now, he saw a woman standing before her old house. This woman had hair so remarkably fair, so pure and blonde, that he recognized at first glance.

He sprinted like a rabbit to her figure, and he didn't even care that Takuya was there. All he saw was Izumi.

Izumi

Izumi

As he approached her, he couldn't help but notice that there was some color back in her cheeks. Her hair had been cut a few inches shorter. She stood with dignity. She wasn't the lonesome woman she left as.

"Izumi!" he felt his heart pound against his ribs with excitement. As soon as he got near enough, he engulfed her in his hug. She even smelled the same.

"Hey, JP." Was that a smile on her face? He had forgotten how beautiful she looked when she smiled.

But the moment was interrupted when little Izumi addressed Takuya. "Father, who is she?"

To this, JP looked down at Izumi nervously. She couldn't handle not having Takuya love her back, so how was she supposed to survive this?

"Just an old…friend."

Friend? JP learned over the past five years how much Takuya really considered Izumi a 'friend'.

JP felt Izumi break away from him. She kneeled down to the little girl's level.

"You know, you still haven't told me who you are."

"Izu-" Takuya tried to cut her off, before Izumi could learn the name of the child.

"I was named after the only woman my father ever loved!" Little Izumi looked so proud of her name, but Takuya wasn't sure if Izumi was ready to hear the name just yet.

"Oh, really?" Izumi's voice suddenly became so meek.

"Yeah, my name's Izumi!"

The two men watched Adult Izumi's face go from sullen to surprised to realization and then to apathy in the span of a few seconds. That Izumi was always a smart girl.

She stood up, refusing to look at Takuya while Takuya glanced nervously from little Izumi to the adult one.

"But who are you, ma'am?" little Izumi asked as Izumi turned her back to the father and daughter. "Are you a friend of my father and Uncle JP?" she asked, trying to get any sort of response out of the new adult.

For such a small girl, the little Izumi was incredibly persistent. Just like her father, now that Izumi thought about it.

"JP, please take my daughter back to the main house," Takuya said.

Although JP thought against it, he nodded anyway. But little Izumi backed away when JP came near her and she instead went closer to the adult Izumi.

"Uncle JP called you Izumi!" the little girl exclaimed. "Are you Izumi?"

Izumi gave no answer to this. JP tried to take little Izumi away, but she incessantly backed away from him.

"Pale skin like a china doll and green eyes that sparkle like my emerald necklace!" the little girl exclaimed as she got a good look at the adult Izumi.

"You're the girl daddy talks about! You are Izumi!"

Izumi bit her lip and tried to remain as quiet as she could.

"Zoe," Takuya said sternly, "go with your uncle now-"

"But daddy! This is the girl you love!"

But the Adult Izumi's response to this was to scream, "No I am NOT!" and then she ran away.


	3. Takuya

**A/N: I do not own Digimon frontier.**

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**Takuya Kanbara**

His first instinct upon seeing her standing there, soaking miserably, was to run over to her and guard her from the relentless rain with his umbrella.

Even though it was raining, just seeing her naturally formed a smile on his face.

"Good morning, Izumi!" Today, he thought, would be a day unlike any other.

….He wasn't wrong….

Izumi didn't really answer him. She just sort of nodded her head.

Takuya continued to speak, "Aren't you annoyed by the rain?"

His voice seemed to break the deafening silence that came with the thrashing rain. When he placed his black-and-red umbrella over her head, she looked up, seeming confused for a split-second, as she walked out from under it.

"Takuya, my ride will be here any minute."

Takuya wondered why she chose to be hit by the rain than stay under the protection of his umbrella. Nevertheless, asked, rather absentmindedly:

"Ride? So you won't be taking the bus to school today?" He stepped up to her and once again placed his umbrella over her head.

Izumi stepped away from him and his umbrella again. "No, Takuya, I won't be taking the bus to school today," she said, rather quietly.

Takuya watched her figure, rain pelting her. Why was she so determined to stay away from him? Was she mad at him? No…it couldn't be…Takuya always treated her with respect... mostly. But he didn't remember doing anything noteworthy. She couldn't have had a reason to be mad at him…

"Well, see you later, Izu-chan." He started to walk away. Maybe he'd get a chance to ask her at school about what was wrong. Until then, Takuya decided to leave her alone. He didn't want a slap in the face.

As he walked away, he could've sworn he heard Izumi say something. However, he didn't turn around to ask what she just said…

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"Yeah. She's getting a ride to school today," Takuya explained, looking at JP skeptically. JP seemed tense today, too. Not unlike Izumi. "That's why she's not with me."

"Takuya, how can you be so foolish?"

The voice JP used…it was so unfamiliar to Takuya. What was going on? Did he miss something? For a moment, Takuya thought the whole world had some sort of conspiracy against him.

"Um? …JP?" Takuya's voice sounded so lost. He was about to ask JP more when JP started to talk.

"She's not going to school."

"JP--what!"

This last phrase scared Takuya. Izumi was not going to school? Then where was she going?

_Her ride_, he thought, panicking.

"She's leaving," JP said sullenly. Takuya had never seen his friend look so upset.

Wait…JP just said 'leaving'? More panicky thoughts started to fill Takuya's mind.

"And if I'm not mistaken, her ride should have picked her up five minutes ago."

Takuya didn't wish to hear anymore. Instead, he threw his umbrella aside and ran at top speed towards Izumi's house.

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When he saw her, still standing there, he started thanking the heavens for his luck. He didn't waste any time. He sprinted up to her, and she looked up in surprise.

"Izumi! Wh--What is all of this!" He suddenly found the ability to talk was leaving him.

"Nothing," she squeaked, obviously trying to get a steady hold of her voice. Her side bangs pressed against her forehead, looking like precious yellow threads. But with the bangs moved, he got a good look at her eyes.

They looked so depressed; she had obviously been crying. And she was crying, at that moment. The tears were pouring freely from her emerald eyes.

"Where the hell are you going?" He did not like the way this situation scared him. Unbeknownst to him, his voice was angry. He hated feeling scared.

"Why do you care?" she asked, indignantly. Her eyes lowered.

How could she ask such a question! And why was she avoiding the answer to his?

"Because you're my friend!" And that was the first thing that came to his mind.

"And yet you never take me seriously!" She moaned as more tears broke from her eyes. Takuya immediately released his hold on her, like Izumi's touch burned him.

"…What…?"

He couldn't think of anything better to ask. Again, how could she ask such a thing! He took every miniscule thing she did with great severity, perhaps a little too much. He had no idea how much every look she gave, every smile that beamed from her lips, every laugh she laughed affected him! Where was all of this coming from?

"Izumi, there's something I have to tell you," he spoke uneasily. There was something she had to hear now, and if it stopped her from leaving, even for a millisecond, she had to hear it. He tried to reach out to her, but she immediately slapped his hand away. Takuya, at this point, was too numb to feel it, though.

"Don't touch me!"

Takuya felt his breathing go shallow when he saw the sharp, furious look that was present in Izumi's eyes. He never dreamed, not even in his worst nightmares, that she would ever stare at him so. Nor had he ever dreamed that he would ever feel such pain.

"Please, Izu-chan, there's something I think you should know!" If she just let him speak!

"But I don't want to hear it, please-"

"Just let me tell you!" Takuya knew that what he had to say was important, at least to him.

"No! Leave me alone like you have for the past few years!"

Takuya, too distracted with apprehension, didn't take in what she just said. It was probably for the better, because if he ever heard Izumi say that, the confusion would have driven him crazy.

"Why are you even leaving?" He wasn't going to rest until he got a straight answer from her.

"That's not important."

Of course it was! He wished he could take her in his arms and tell her that everything was going to be alright, that no one was ever going to hurt her again. He wanted to rip that anger out of her eyes.

"You didn't even tell us that you were going somewhere…" he didn't even hear the cracks in his own voice. When Izumi saw that tear, that streak of water different from the thousands of raindrops attacking his face every minute, she couldn't look at him.

"This," she choked out, looking downwards, "this decision wasn't planned."

"Then why would JP know?" Since when could Izumi share something with JP but not tell him? And why was she acting so angry towards him?

A black car seemed to slither down the street. It pulled up directly adjacent to where Izumi was standing. Takuya felt himself going tense again. Hoping against hope, he secretly prayed that this wasn't her ride.

"Because someone had to tell you why…Takuya Kanbara." He hated the way she said his name in disgust. She was getting into the car, much to his dismay. He had no choice. He immediately grabbed her arm and brought it up to his chest so that she couldn't breakaway.

"Goddamn it girl, you have to hear what I have to say!" Why wasn't she letting him speak?

Izumi's next reaction surprised the two of them. She let go of the car door handle. She brought her hand up to his face so quickly, tearing through the rain. Takuya prepared to get slapped, however, she touched his cheek. Takuya opened his eyes and saw her eyes shake with sadness.

"No…No…No."

She looked so unhappy, and Takuya wanted to change that, but how could he when she was resisting him so?

She pulled away from him and started to get into the car.

"Izumi, please!"

She stepped into the car and slammed the door behind her. Takuya felt sick as he watched the car drive away.

Time seemed to move so swiftly. He felt as if Izumi's car had just left before JP came up to Takuya.

"She left, didn't she?"

Of course she left! Takuya had never felt so angry in his entire life. He turned to JP with a look of intense fury in his eyes.

"Where did she go?"

* * *

**Five years later**

Nobody would ever understand the pain he went through that day. Nobody understood why he sat in the back of class, wiping his face with his sleeve every so often. Nobody understood why he didn't leave his house that weekend. And nobody ever understood why he didn't use an umbrella on a rainy day.

He never stopped thinking about her. She was his thoughts waking up and she was his thoughts when he went to sleep. She was everything to him. He could never stop thinking about her.

He tried to regain his composure. Really, he did. He started to smile again after a few weeks. He started to joke again.

He promised to take Little Izumi to the park that day. He always took the route that went past Izumi's house. Every time he stared out at it. He could still remember the way she smelled, the way she looked, the way she cried. She was only seventeen! She had her whole life ahead of her, and yet she left as if she had nothing to live for anymore!

But today, today was different. As he crossed the street. He never expected to see her. At first, he didn't believe it was her. He thought it was a passer-by with pale gold hair partly covered by a purple cap.

But he knew better.

He kept Little Izumi close to his side.

He approached her from behind, careful not to give away the fact that he was there. She was staring fondly at her old house, which was abandoned after a few months when her mother had decided to move back to Italy to be with her ex-husband and her daughter.

He wanted to take her in his arms again. He wanted to look at her, the beautiful young woman that she had become. However, something in his heart made him speak to her in a low voice.

"You're back." He paused for a minute. "Did you enjoy your vacation?"

She gasped. But after a few seconds of collecting herself, she was able to look at him.

"Hey, Takuya," she spoke, smiling at him. She didn't look so sad anymore. At that moment, Izumi noticed Little Izumi who was standing behind her father's leg.

"Hello, who might you be?" she asked Little Izumi. However, Takuya did not want Izumi to hear the answer to that question.

Thankfully, a voice interrupted the moment.

"Izumi!" JP cried, running up to her and smothering Izumi in a hug. Takuya felt Little Izumi look up at her uncle.

Takuya tried to ignore the small shards of jealousy that were still present in his heart when JP hugged Izumi.

"Hey, JP," she answered finally, a brighter smile forming across her face.

Little Izumi pulled on Takuya's pants. "Father, who is she?"

Takuya did not want to see Izumi's reaction to the word "father", so instead, he thought of a decent answer to the question. "Just an old…friend."

Izumi broke away from JP. "You know," Izumi said softly, kneeling down to the girl's level, "you still haven't told me who you are."

"Izu-" Takuya tried to explain before he got interrupted again.

"I was named after the only woman my father ever loved!" Now, Takuya knew he couldn't let this go on. He heard Izumi ask. "Oh, really?" meekly, but what feared him the most was what his daughter answered next.

"Yeah, my name's Izumi!"

There. It had been revealed. Takuya felt exposed, as if his one barrier had been ripped, all by a small, three-year-old girl. He did not want to look at Izumi and see her reaction to such news, but instinctively, he looked at her.

She looked surprised, but her expression eventually became indifferent to the situation. She stood up and Takuya noticed she was refusing to look at him. However, Takuya looked at his daughter then glanced up at the adult Izumi nervously. He repeated this until Little Izumi started speaking again.

"But who are you, ma'am?" Little Izumi asked as Izumi turned her back to the father and daughter. "Are you a friend of my father and Uncle JP?" she asked, trying to get any sort of response out of the new adult.

Takuya had to stop this. "JP, please take my daughter back to the main house," he said. However, when JP tried to come near Little Izumi, she backed away and stared at the adult Izumi.

"Uncle JP called you Izumi!" the little girl exclaimed. "Are you Izumi?"

Izumi did not answer this. Little Izumi kept backing away from JP.

"Pale skin like a china doll and green eyes that sparkle like my emerald necklace!" Little Izumi exclaimed. That was the description Takuya had always described Izumi with.

"You're the girl daddy talks about! You are Izumi!" His daughter, though young, was extremely smart for her age.

Izumi said nothing.

"Zoe," Takuya said sternly, "go with your uncle now-"

"But daddy! This is the girl you love!"

Izumi's response to all of this was screaming, "No I am NOT!" and then she ran away.

"Izumi!" Takuya cried, watching her figure run away from him.

"What, father?" Little Izumi asked.

Takuya shook his head in frustration while JP asked, "Should I still take her back to the main house?"

"No, I'll deal with Little Izumi," Takuya answered. "But go back to the main house. Tell the others about Izumi's return. I want them to search for her in case she ran away from us, again."

JP nodded and then he went off.

"Father?" Little Izumi's voice called after a few moments. She looked afraid, as if she had upset her father.

Takuya looked down at her and smiled at her to show that he wasn't mad.

"Did you ever love my mother, the woman who gave birth to me?"

Takuya looked shocked. He wasn't expecting a question like this from her.

"Mother said you only married her to-"

"Izumi, you have to understand. There's more to the story than that. Try to understand--"

"I think I understand you perfectly," She said it as a statement. And then there was silence.

"Father, I saw you cry once," she explained. To this, Takuya leaned down to his daughter's level. Little Izumi took this as a sign to go on. "It--it wasn't like you were sobbing. But I heard you snivel, and you had a few--only a few--tears come out of our eyes…and I think that that's a type of crying, right daddy?"

Takuya nodded. "Right."

"And I think Uncle JP cried, too. I saw him. Mother told me it was over the same girl. The same girl made the two of you cry. Then mother told me that real men cry…"

"…!"

"Father, you're the best father I could ever have! Mother told me about the great things you did. And I feel so proud that I was named after the only girl the great Takuya ever loved! You named me beautifully and I love my name! Thank you!"

"Izumi," he closed his eyes and felt tears on his face. He opened his eyes again. "I…care about your mother…"

"I know…"

He raised his eyebrows. He had a feeling his daughter wasn't done speaking. She smiled at him with a one-in-a-million smile.

"And I know that you weren't really my father."

-

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_Ahh…yes…we dreamed a melody once_

_This perfect song of you and me…_

_And the world seemed so womderful, until_

_You decided to be…someone else_

_The view got hazy_

_The song stopped_

_The dream never happened_

_You came back_

_Why?_

_Chuujitsu? Is that what you had for me?_

_You went_

_I went_

_She came_

_She left_

_They watched_

_We saw_

_They felt_

_We lost_

_They read_

_We witnessed_

_This love was supposed to be perfect_

_But what is the point of love_

_We had a tale_

_A pleasant story_

_You and I were the magic_

_But there was no point_

_There will no happy ending_

_In a story_

_Where there was never a beginning to start with_

_

* * *

  
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_**click that gray button x)**  
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	4. Izumi, JP, and Takuya

**A/n: i wanted to wait to post but i gave up**

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**4**

**Izumi  
**

"…Zoe, how did you…? Did anyone tell you? Your mother?"

"No one told me," she declared proudly.

"Don't lie to me. Who told you?"

"I just figured it out. Mother said it's 'cause I'm so smart."

"You _are_ smart," Takuya agreed, feeling a sense of relief for some reason. "But I don't understand how you figured it out."

"You have brown eyes…mine are blue. Mother doesn't have blue eyes either."

"That doesn't mean you aren't my daughter."

"But I asked mother!" she paused, looking rather scared. "…when I realized nothing between us matched. My eyes, my hair…mines aren't like mother's and they aren't like yours. Are you mad?"

"Of course not." Takuya felt a smile tug on his lips, but that smile immediately left. "Did she tell you anything about your real father?"

"I tried, but she started crying…" The little girl trailed off. "She didn't want to tell me about you, I could tell that much. I asked her a lot, and then she finally told me during your anniversary party. Her eyes were watery…but she was happy. It was weird. Father, do you anything about my real father?"

Takuya said nothing.

"It doesn't matter if you don't, father." However, the girl's expression showed otherwise.

"I'm sorry I didn't--we didn't--…-were you upset?" Takuya asked tentatively.

The girl pondered for a moment, staring at her feet. "Um…" she seemed unsure, and suddenly, "no…" She gathered her thoughts, "When she told me why you married her and how you took care of me when I came, treated me as your own…I couldn't feel sad. And then she told me how you named me after 'Izumi'! She told me what a precious name it was to you. She told me to respect what you did because you did it all for me: 'Takuya gave us so much! I'm forever within his debt!'"

Takuya kissed his daughter's blonde hair. "Let's go back to the main house, sweetie."

* * *

"_Please, Takuya. I don't want to be a burden."_

"…"

"_You don't have to help me. I can make do," She lied. Takuya knew.  
_

"_The baby will need a father."_

_The woman paused… She spoke only two words, "Izumi Orimoto."_

_Takuya looked up, surprised. Why did she bring her up?_

"_It's lovely, no?" Takuya asked, staring straight at the woman. "If it's a girl, I think that will make a great name."_

"_You'll never stop waiting for her."_

_Takuya turned his back to her._

_The girl came closer to Takuya. He was making crying sounds. "__Please don't cry. I'll wait with you."_

* * *

Izumi pressed herself against the cherry blossom. She placed her hand over her heart, feeling that its beating was becoming slowly yet surely more steady.

Her heart had ached so badly when she heard the little girl's name, and the reasoning behind the name, that she feared she could not control it from jumping out of her chest.

"_Are you Izumi?"_

"There's another Izumi," she told herself. "It's not an uncommon name."

Stop lying.

"_I was named after the only woman my father ever loved!"_

She had to bite her lip to keep from crying.

_No! _She thought, panicking. _I tried for five years…_five _years. She's so small…I can't let her words ruin what I worked so hard for. I forgot him. He's nothing more than a memory to me. He is! There's nothing in my heart for him anymore. The moment I slammed the car door in his face, I gave up._

Haha. You'll continue with the lying, then?

Liar.

Liar.

Liar.

She shut her eyes, but her mind taunted her, _Liar. Liar. Liar-_

_No! It's true!_

"Where the hell are you going?"

Liar. Liar. Liar.

_Stop it! I'm not lying! STOP IT!_

"Izumi, there's something I have to tell you."

She opened her eyes. "There must be someone else with that name." _I can't be the only girl entitled to such a name?_

…

_You're so stupid._

"The heart cannot choose. The heart cannot choose. The heart cannot choose."

_No…the heart has nothing to do with choosing. I chose. I picked him. _I _loved him. The only thing the heart did was break when his love wasn't reciprocated._

It broke you.

_I missed him._

She was so tired from the plane ride back.

_Why did I come back?_

You couldn't stay away.

_Every second I spent away from him was a blessing-_

Every second was a punishment for your heart!

The breezes were so soft. Her eyes couldn't help but feel relaxed in the setting. She did always love the smell of Japan.

"Why are you leaving?"

"_...stop…asking…"_

"Just let me tell you!"

"_I…don't…want to know. Stop…please, stop." _Her eyes gave in slowly to the power of sleep.

"Izumi! What is all of this!"

"_I want to sleep…" _She could feel her eyelids get heavier.

"You have to hear what I have to say!"

"…_stop," _she said, already asleep.

"Please, Izu-chan, there's something you should know!"

"_No…let me sleep…I…sleep…"_

"Izumi, there's something I have to tell you."

"…_no…"_

_Let me sleep. Let me dream. _Her body fell over.

"Where the hell are you going?"

_To sleep._

"_I…don't…forget…" _she mumbled. "_Don't forget him."_

_I never did._

"This is the girl you love!"

_No, I'm not._

"Are you Izumi?"

"_Yes!" _Her sleeping body exclaimed.

"The only woman my father ever loved!"

"Izumi…"

_I never forgot you, Takuya._

_Never._

As she slept, a single tear fell from her eye.

* * *

"Where is everybody?" JP asked, noticing the abandoned house.

"Where should they be?" Hikari Yagami, the other occupant in the room responded. JP banged his fist against the wall.

Hikari got up from the table she was sitting at and approached JP. "Is everything alright?"

JP smiled a smile he hadn't smiled in five years. "Yes! I mean, no. Well, sorta…Izumi."

"Is everything alright with Little Izumi?" Hikari asked, apprehensively. She placed a hand on her mouth. "Please, I can't stand the suspense."

JP shook his head. "Not _Little _Izumi."

Hikari gasped. "No…you're joking!"

JP shook his head again. "Hikari, I'm glad I'm not! Believe me!"

"Where is she!" It wasn't a question; it was more like an angry declaration of Izumi's lack of presence.

JP shrugged and looked away. "She ran off when Little Izumi claimed Takuya loved her-"

"Takuya saw her?" Her eyes went wide. JP nodded sadly. Hikari clenched her fists. "She caused him so much pain and…" She looked up at JP, "she did the same to you!"

"I told you her reasons!"

"Her feelings were nothing compared to what all of us went through," Hikari reminded. "I thought there was no hope for you and Takuya." The woman started pacing around the room.

It was while she was pacing that the door to the house opened, revealing Takuya and Little Izumi. Takuya looked at JP, asking him, without using words, if he had told Hikari. JP nodded.

"Well, I better go track down everyone else to tell them the news," JP said, brushing past Takuya and Little Izumi on his way out.

"Thanks," Takuya muttered.

"No problem, Takky."

Little Izumi entered the house and, after greeting Hikari, ran through an open archway into her playroom.

Takuya sat down at the table and ran a hand through his brown hair. Hikari sat down beside him. Little Izumi, who could see both adults through the archway, noticed that the adults were acting rather strangely. She went over to her father.

"Father, is everything alright?"

Takuya realized that Hikari was the only other adult in the house. Going against his better judgment, he shook his head. _This wasn't the person he needed to talk to at the moment._ "I have to tell your mother something."

Little Izumi nodded her head and went back to playing with her toys. Hikari, making sure the little girl wasn't paying attention to them, whispered, "Did you see her?"

Takuya, still frustrated, turned and looked at Hikari.

"Yeah. Your daughter finally met her namesake."

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**A/N: ah it was so nice out today. there was a yellow full moon! gorgeous **

**this is a crossover between 02 and 04... if you somehow havent figured it out by now .. it's not my fault 04 has only 1 female character ok? stupid toei~ there shoulda been two girls instead of LBD Izumi (ive even read a "gangbang". 2 words Rule 34) ANYWAY i used 02 chars because i can. ^^  
**


	5. Little Izumi and Izumi

**Little Izumi**

All her life she had been called "Little" Izumi. She had no idea why, for she didn't know a "Big" Izumi for her to be compared to.

When she was two, she made it her life's goal to figure out who this "Big" Izumi was. If she was important enough to have a kid named after her, where did she go?

It was a few months later at her parents third anniversary party that Little Izumi found out, but that wasn't the only thing she was told.

Takuya cradled Little Izumi as he, Hikari, and Little Izumi blew out the three candles on the cake. The crowd cheered for the couple and the little girl, who was a few months shy of her third birthday at the time.

Takuya put Little Izumi down as the other adults--Uncle JP, Uncle Kouichi, Uncle Kouji, Aunt Miyako, Uncle Tomoki, Uncle Shinya, Uncle Ken, Uncle Daisuke, and Uncle Taichi--started to congratulate Takuya and Hikari and talk with them.

Meanwhile, Little Izumi she looked excitedly at the cake with its frosted flowers and creamy, fondant icing with a vicious stare like any sugar-obsessed infant would. However, before she had a chance to run up to the cake (not that she could've reached it since the cake's table was taller than the girl herself), her mother picked her up and took her outside the party hall and into the lobby.

"Put me down! Put me down! They're gonna eat it all!" she whined and kicked as her mother sat her on a chair. Hikari sniffled.

"Mother," Little Izumi said softly, "what's wrong? Shouldn't you be happy that you and father have been together for three years? And you _should _stop crying because you'll get water all over your new party dress!" Tears streamed down Hikari's face.

Hikari got up from the chair and started to pace around the ornate lobby.

She looked through the glass doors that led from the lobby to the main party hall and saw Takuya through them, smiling and talking with their other friends. She then went back to the chair that Little Izumi was sitting on and kneeled before her daughter.

"Sweetie, these tears are tears of joy, I promise," she said as she wiped her face. She ran a finger through her hair which was done up in a fancy bun, with a few curled strands hanging around her shoulders, for the party. As she twiddled with a lock of her curled chestnut locks she bit her lip anxiously.

"You're so smart," Hikari whispered. "So unbelievably smart. You're able to piece together the pieces so wonderfully and at such a young age." More tears started to fall from her eyes.

"But despite all that, I don't know whether or not you'll remember the things I'm about to tell you…"

"I'll remember!" the little girl said confidently.

"I know you've asked me and Takuya before about this, and it's time I tell you…You're _my_ daughter…The shape of your eyes, the way you love to dance, your smile…That's from me," Hikari explained.

"What do I get from father?" the child asked.

Hikari shook her head again. "You don't get anything from father…"

"Why?"

"…Because…"

"Because why?"

"Because," Hikari paused, "although he loves you more than any _real_ father could love his daughter…"

"He's _not_ my real father," the little girl said softly.

Hikari buried her face in the girl's hair. "You have to understand. He loves you so much, and he helped me--us--so much. He overcame his problems and gave me help in the time that I needed him the most. Takuya gave us so much! I'm forever within his debt!"

Little Izumi remained silent, contemplating to herself. Her father treated her like a princess…He was funny, kind, sometimes stern if she ever misbehaved, but nevertheless incredibly loving to her. As far as she was concerned, Takuya was her father and she loved him to death.

"But Izumi," Hikari said as she stared at her daughter. "Never tell your father that I told you this, ok?"

Little Izumi didn't know why her mother was asking her this, but she nodded her head anyway.

"Who _was_ my real father, mother?"

To this, more tears started to come out of Hikari's eyes, even though she tried to wipe them away. It stayed silent for a minute before her mother spoke again.

"And Izumi?"

"Yes, mother?"

"Your name…Your father gave you that name…"

"Was there a Big Izumi before me?" Little Izumi asked.

"Yes," Hikari explained. "She had amazing blonde hair and big green eyes."

"I wish I could meet her! She sounds like the princess father describes in my bedtime story!"

"Remember how you saw Uncle JP and your father crying a few days ago? They'll never admit it, but they were mourning since it was the fifth anniversary of her leaving…Only real men cry when they care for something and it's gone."

"Whoever Big Izumi was, she was real important to them, huh?"

"Yes." Hikari looked up and leaned into her daughter's face. "The only woman your father ever loved."

* * *

It had all started out like a normal day. Takuya had promised his daughter that he would take her to the park since he did not have to go to work today.

It had been a few months since the anniversary part where Hikari told Little Izumi about Takuya, but Little Izumi decided never to bring it up in front of her father…

…until…

They were passing by the "pretty house" as Little Izumi liked to call it. It was an old house that her father told her nobody lived in for over five years. Nobody (meaning her parents and all of her aunts and uncles) would like to go near the house, so Little Izumi had assumed it was haunted, although it was still pretty.

But today, there was a girl standing before the house, and this girl had made her father stop and look at her from across the street, even though he could only see her back since she was facing the house.

"Stay close to me," he whispered to Little Izumi as he started to cross the street and approach the girl.

This girl's hair was foreign to Little Izumi. It was platinum blonde and Little Izumi rarely saw hair like hers. She wore a purple sundress with an expensive-looking purple sunhat, which was decorated with white flowers. Still, even though her fashion choices were nice, she was a stranger and Little Izumi watched her carefully from behind her father's leg.

"You're back." Little Izumi never heard her father speak in such an angry tone. "Did you enjoy your vacation?"

The towheaded girl gasped. But after a few seconds of collecting herself, she was able to look at him. When she turned around, Little Izumi had to admit that this foreign girl was rather pretty.

"Hey, Takuya," she spoke, smiling at him. At that moment, the lady seemed to have noticed Little Izumi.

"Hello, who might you be?" she asked Little Izumi.

A familiar voice called out.

"Izumi!" JP cried, running up to her and smothering Izumi in a hug. Little Izumi looked up at her uncle in confusion. Was he calling her? If he was, why was he hugging the new lady?

"Hey, JP," the new lady answered finally, a brighter smile forming across her face.

Little Izumi pulled on Takuya's pants. "Father, who is she?"

"Just an old…friend."

The lady broke away from JP. "You know," Izumi said softly, kneeling down to the girl's level, "you still haven't told me who you are."

"Izu-" Takuya tried to explain before he got interrupted again.

"I was named after the only woman my father ever loved!"

"Oh, really?" the lady asked.

"Yeah, my name's Izumi!"

The lady looked surprised, but she eventually became indifferent to the situation. She stood up.

"But who are you, ma'am?" Little Izumi asked as the lady turned her back to the father and daughter. "Are you a friend of my father and Uncle JP?" she asked, trying to get any sort of response out of the new adult.

"JP, please take my daughter back to the main house," Takuya said. However, when JP tried to come near Little Izumi, she backed away and stared at the adult woman.

"Uncle JP called you Izumi!" the little girl exclaimed. "Are you Izumi?"

The lady said nothing. Little Izumi kept backing away from JP.

"Pale skin like a china doll and green eyes like my emerald necklace!" Little Izumi exclaimed. That was the description Takuya had always described the princess from her bedtime story with, and according to Little Izumi's mother, that girl _was_ Izumi.

"You're the girl daddy talks about! You are Izumi!"

Big Izumi remained silent.

"Zoe," Takuya said sternly, "go with your uncle now-"

"But daddy! This is the girl you love!"

Big Izumi's response to all of this was screaming, "No I am NOT!" and then she ran away.

"Izumi!" Takuya cried, watching her figure run away from him.

"What, father?" Little Izumi asked.

Takuya shook his head in frustration while JP asked, "Should I still take her back to the main house?"

"No, I'll deal with Zoe," Takuya answered. "But go back to the main house. Tell the others about Izumi's return. I want them to look for her incase she ran away from us, again."

JP nodded and then he went off.

"Father?" Little Izumi's voice called after a few moments. She looked afraid, as if she had upset her father.

Takuya looked down at her and smiled at her to show that he wasn't mad.

"Did you ever love my mother, the woman who gave birth to me?"

Takuya's jaw dropped.

"Mother said you only married her to-"

"Izumi, you have to understand. There's more to the story than that. Try to understand--"

"I think I understand you perfectly," She said it as a statement. And then there was silence.

"Father, I saw you cry once," she explained. To this, Takuya leaned down to his daughter's level. The Little Izumi took this as a sign to go on. "It--it wasn't like you were sobbing. But I heard you snivel, and you had a few--only a few--tears come out of our eyes…and I think that that's a type of crying, right daddy?"

Takuya nodded. "Right."

"And I think Uncle JP cried, too. I saw him. Mother told me it was over the same girl. The same girl made the two of you cry. Then mother told me that real men cry…"

"…!"

"Father, I think you're the best father I could ever have! Mother told me about the great things you did. And I'm proud that I was named after the only girl the great Takuya ever loved! You named me beautifully and I love my name! Thank you!"

"Izumi," he closed his eyes and felt tears on his face. He opened his eyes again. "I…care about your mother…"

"I know…"

He raised his eyebrows. He had a feeling his daughter wasn't done speaking. She smiled at him with a one-in-a-million smile.

"And I know that you weren't really my father."

Little Izumi had explained to her father exactly what her mother had told her at the anniversary party. Her father seemed slightly upset at first, but then he smiled and offered to take her back to the main house, where they had dropped Hikari off this morning.

The passed Uncle JP who was on the way out of the main house when Takuya and Little Izumi went inside. Little Izumi ran up to Hikari and greeted her, then she ran through an open archway into her playroom. After a few minutes, she noticed that her mother and father were talking very quietly, but Little Izumi could still hear them anyway.

She went up to her father and asked: "Father, is everything alright?"

Her father looked around the room then said, "I have to tell your mother something."

So then, Little Izumi went back to playing with her toys. However, she still decided to listen in on what her parents were talking about.

"She's back?" her mother asked.

"Yeah. Your daughter finally met her namesake," her father responded.

"Yeah," Little Izumi agreed, revealing that she was listening. "I met Big Izumi. Mother, she looks just as you and father described her," she explained, still playing with her toys.

"That's wonderful, sweetie," Hikari told the girl, although her voice didn't sound too happy. "Are you okay?" She asked Takuya.

"I'm fine. But I wish I could have spoken with her some more."

* * *

**Izumi**

Izumi's eyes started to flutter open after a couple of hours of sleeping under the cherry blossom. She slowly sat up and started to yawn when she realized that someone had been watching her.

"You're finally awake. When I first saw you, I couldn't believe it, but then I didn't want to wake you, so I had to wait until you woke up… now, here you are, awake, and not in Italy."

Izumi was startled at first when she saw him, but a smile started to spread across her lips as she started to recognize him.

"Kouichi, there's nothing to get excited about. I won't be here for much longer," Izumi explained as Kouichi grabbed her hand and helped her to stand.

"You're not staying? We all missed you." Kouichi asked, unable to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"That's not how Takuya made it sound," Izumi said as she started to walk down the park's path.

"Oh…so you saw Takuya?" Kouichi asked, tentatively as he came up to Izumi and started to walk with her.

"Yes, and I saw JP too, and," she paused and looked at Kouichi, "Little Izumi."

Kouichi said nothing. He couldn't imagine how Izumi was feeling…But surely Izumi wouldn't be so upset since she knew Little Izumi wasn't actually Takuya's.

"…You don't know," Kouichi muttered.

"I don't know what?" Izumi asked.

"Nothing. Say, have you eaten yet?"

Izumi shook her head. "I went straight from the airport to home, which is where I saw the others, and then I came here."

"Then you must be feeling hungry. Come on," Kouichi grabbed Izumi's hand and started running, "I know this amazing restaurant!"

Roughly twenty minutes later, Kouichi and Izumi were sitting in a small red booth at the end of this so-called "amazing" restaurant. So far, Izumi hadn't seen anything stellar about the place. It seemed like every other Japanese restaurant--actually, this place was more like an American diner with a counter, and booths, and waitresses moving along on roller blades— she remembered going to a diner in America once.

"What is this place?" Izumi asked Kouichi, who was sitting next to her.

"It's the most popular diner in town." Kouichi said, somewhat excitedly. "You'll love it here, I promise, and since you probably are still carrying Italian currency, I'll pay."

"Thanks, Kouichi," Izumi said, "for seeming so happy to see me. And just so you know, I missed you too."

"Really?"

"Yes," Izumi explained. "I still have that picture frame you gave me in seventh grade. I kept it by my nightstand in Italy."

Just as Izumi finished explaining this, two teens--a boy with an oversized orange hat, and another boy with chocolate brown hair that looked awfully familiar to Izumi--both came up to the booth. They were both wearing aprons and were moving on roller blades. Izumi assumed that they worked here.

The boy with the hat, who looked about seventeen, started talking to Kouichi, completely oblivious to Izumi.

"Kouichi, you _have_ to tell the manager to stop making us wear these roller blades!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah," the other boy chimed in, also not noticing Izumi, "have you ever tried to carry six sodas on a tray while wearing these things?" the boy asked, pointing to his shoes. "It's absurd. It's a conspiracy. It's murder!"

"And we can't get through to the manager!"

Kouichi, who had remained quiet as the teens complained, looked from Izumi to the two young boys.

"Wait guys," Kouichi said to the boys, "do you not recognize her?" he asked, nodding at Izumi.

"Should we?" the teens asked in unison as they turned their vision toward her for the first time. But it didn't take more than one glance to recognize her.

The foreigner had recognized them the moment that they first bladed over to the table, but she was so amazed that she couldn't say anything. She quickly slid her messenger bag off of her shoulders and went outside the booth, staring at the two teens who looked just as surprised.

"Tomoki! Shinya! Look how you've grown!" Izumi cried, enveloping the two in a hug. "You were both just _kids_ when I left!" She started to look them up-and-down.

"You both look so handsome," she told Tommy and Shinya.

"Thanks," the two blushing teenagers said.

"I can't believe it's you! You look really nice!" Tomoki exclaimed. Suddenly, he didn't care so much about the roller blades.

Shinya nodded his head quickly. "We thought you'd _never_ come back."

The two teens couldn't help but smile as they hugged the Italian girl, but their happy reunion was interrupted when…

"Tomoki! Shinya! What are you two doing? There are people to serve!" a voice called out, causing Tomoki and Shinya to part from Izumi.

"Our manager," Shinya introduced.

But as Izumi saw the mauve-haired woman, an even bigger smile was seen on her face.

"Miyako!"

-

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	6. JP and Takuya

**FYI!!!!** miyako is yolei from the second season! its my bad for using jap names

-

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-

-

-

JP had no idea where to start. His friends--meaning those he had to inform of Izumi's return--were dispersed all throughout town. There were so many places to go, so where to begin?

And so he pondered this question as he walked through the streets of the town.

But then, all of a sudden, the answer hit him: why not start with the place where a lot of his friends were gathered? And since he had already tried the main house and had only found Hikari, the next logical place was

… the most popular diner in town.

-

JP swung open the door to the diner, but it didn't take him long to find what he was looking for, or rather, _who_ he was looking for.

Izumi was hugging, or had been hugging, Tomoki and Shinya, but as soon as she saw Miyako, the diner's manager, she had let go.

"Miyako!" Izumi cried, reaching out and trying to hug her best friend. However, when Izumi hugged Miyako, Miyako's body became stone-statue still.

"Miyako!" Kouichi said angrily. "Aren't you happy that Izumi has returned?"

This was exactly the question Izumi was asking to herself, and although JP couldn't read her mind, he could tell by the way her emerald eyes shook that she was upset.

It was a bittersweet moment for JP; she looked so beautiful when her eyes glistened with water, but then it caused his heart so weaken when he realized _why_ her eyes were glistening in the first place.

Izumi couldn't understand why this girl who was once her best friend was acting so strangely with her. She immediately released Miyako from her hug as Miyako rolled her eyes.

Izumi walked away from Miyako and Miyako dusted herself off. Izumi sat back down in the booth and looked out the window, trying not to look at her once best friend.

"What would make me happy is if you two would do your jobs instead of socializing!" Miyako scolded. Tomoki and Shinya folded their hands over their chest, obviously in disapproval of how their manager was acting.

"I think I know people who will welcome their friend back," Kouichi explained as he got out of the booth.

JP, on the other hand, sat down in one of the booths, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible as he watched the scene unfold.

"Don't bother, Kouichi, please," Izumi said under her breath as she saw Kouichi go to the counter of the diner.

"If it's any consolation, we're glad you're back," Tomoki told Izumi, which was just infuriating Miyako more.

"Didn't I tell you guys to go to work? Do I pay you to stand around and do nothing? No!" Miyako cried.

"There's no other customers here," Shinya pointed out, staring at the row of empty booths, not noticing the one JP was ducking in.

"Then you two go in the back and wash some dishes, or no paycheck for the next two weeks," Miyako ordered, causing the two teens to drop their heads and disappear behind the diner's counter, where Kouichi was ringing some sort of bell to get someone's attention. Izumi wondered why neither Miyako, Tomoki, or Shinya were helping him or asking for whatever it was that he needed.

Once Tomoki and Shinya had vanished behind the counter, Miyako slid into the booth Izumi was sitting in. She grabbed Izumi's hand, and Izumi who had still been looking out that window, seemed startled.

"Izumi," Miyako said quietly, as her eyes softened, "Why did you come back?"

-

JP was highly annoyed. From his vantage point of the booth, all he could see was Miyako sitting down across from Izumi. He couldn't tell what they were saying, which was all the more infuriating.

But by the way Miyako had reacted to Izumi's homecoming a few moments ago, he had a feeling that they were not discussing fashion.

JP was worried. But then he was so happy. Why did this girl make him feel such ways?

He had this _thing_ that if anyone--even someone usually very sweet such as Miyako--said anything to Izumi, he felt this primal urge to go and protect Izumi. She made him feel so happy, and he hadn't felt that happiness ever since she left. But now that she had returned, he wanted to take her--and the happiness she gave him--and return the happiness to her.

But unfortunately, there was only one person who JP knew could put that light in Izumi's eyes, and it wasn't him.

* * *

**Takuya**

Takuya sat at the main house table. The same table that he had been sitting at when he was as small as his daughter. There was something about this place that made him always return.

_Just like there was something about her that always called him back._

Takuya tried for the billionth time that day to shake the thought of her from his mind.

He was being stupid, and he knew it. He tried over and over again through the five years to erase her.

_That's never going to happen._

'I have a new life now, she's not part of it,' he thought to himself.

_You can tell yourself that, but you missed her.  
_

"I missed her," Takuya said quietly to himself.

Why did he always feel so weak around her? Was it the same reason that he always felt so strong around her, as well?

Was the answer also the reason why he wanted to hold her forever and keep her smiling? The same reason why she caused him to weaken from the inside out and why he lost his breath when he saw the light hit her emerald eyes?

These feelings were agonizing.

_You know you love them._

Why couldn't he get rid of her? How was she so a part of him that every little thing about her… the way she confidently laughed at stupid things, the careful, delibrate way she administered herself in all affairs, how her eyes would light up with derisive but good hearted amusement every time she'd call him "Takky"…was superimposed into his mind?

It made Takuya uneasy. So many things but not a single answer.

_What? You know the answer!_

"Shut up," Takuya said out loud.

"What's wrong?" Hikari asked. Takuya looked up and saw Hikari with a tray of three hot chocolates in her hands. As soon as she sat down with the drinks, Little Izumi eagerly ran over to her parents and took the cup with the most marshmallows to her table in the corner.

"Little Izumi," Takuya said sternly to his daughter. The little girl turned around to her parents, curtsied in gratitude, and returned to whatever it was that she was doing at her table.

"What's wrong?" Hikari pressed as she pushed aside her hot chocolate.

"I'm fine," Takuya said edgily.

"You don't think that after all these years I can't tell how you're feeling?" Hikari put on an expression on mock hurt.

"Hikari, there really is nothing wrong," Takuya assured.

"Fine. Keep lying, then," Hikari said quietly as she sipped her chocolate. "Look, why don't you take a walk? I know you haven't had the best day in the world. I read somewhere that walking is relaxing."

Takuya sighed. "Okay," he agreed. He got up from the table. "Thanks for the hot chocolate," he added, smiling.

"It would've been nice if you actually drank some," Hikari said. Takuya opened his mouth but Hikari smiled and interrupted, "Just go. You need to take some time for yourself."

"Daddy was supposed to take me to the park, but he forgot about it when Big Izumi showed up!" The little girl exclaimed from the corner, putting her tiny hands on her hips in her best three-year-old attempt to look mad. "Can I go with him? Please?"

"If you go, there'll be no one to help me finish the bag of marshmallows in the pantry," Hikari groaned, causing the little girl to forget all about going to the park.

Takuya smiled, said his goodbyes, and left.

-

-

"She's an epidemic," Takuya said to himself as he walked through the park. Try as he might, he couldn't stop thinking about her, especially in this park.

This was the same park he came to after school on that certain day five years ago. He ran for hours and hours, trying to cause his heart to beat so fast that he could just push her out of his system.

He had read "Romeo and Juliet" and he had seen cheesy romantic films because Hikari loved watching them late at night and made him watch them too. But never did he ever see signs of feelings be so strong that even after years and years, they were exactly the same.

_Yeah you have! You're just surprised that something like that could happen to you._

Takuya clenched his fists.

The heart was terrible at choosing.

-

Takuya walked for a good hour or so through the long park. One good thing about this park was that it was intricate, long and definitely hard to get out of if someone lost themselves in it.

And that's exactly what he wanted to do.

But suddenly, he heard a ringing in his ears. This ringing sent an electrifying shiver down his back. He couldn't put his finger on where he had heard this ringing before, so he followed its sound.

He found himself a few yards away, astonished.

Izumi was standing under a cherry blossom, laughing as the wind laughed with her and sent pink petals whirling around her in a miniature pink spiral.

Suddenly, he remembered why the ringing was so familiar.

He watched her, as he stood there a few feet away behind the leaves of a weeping willow. It was then that he realized Izumi was not alone.

"What is Kouichi doing with her?" Takuya pushed down the flame that emerged in his chest.

"That was hilarious!" Izumi exclaimed through her laughter.

Seeing how achingly beautiful she looked when she laughed made Takuya's heart hurt. He wanted to be the one standing over there, watching her laugh as Kouichi was doing. Just what was so hilarious, anyway?

"I love how you're doing that," Kouichi told her.

"Doing what?"

"Laughing."

Izumi gave Kouichi a smile that melted Takuya and Kouichi's hearts.

"They didn't have cherry blossoms in Italy." She sighed as she stared up at the tree that cast a light pink shadow around her. "Oh, they're beautiful!"

"Yeah…beautiful," Kouichi said, although he was not looking at the trees. It was at that moment that Kouichi decided to do something that would surprise both him and Izumi and make Takuya's blood boil.

Kouichi pressed his lips against hers...

-

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_There will be no happy ending_

_In a story_

_Where there was never a beginning to start with_

you know what i find strange about story stats? the 1st chapter has the most number of hits like a million, the 2nd will have like a hundred, and then the last one will have the least, like 1. its so odd. like..when i read stories i cant stop in the middle of the story ^^;


	7. Izumi II

**Izumi**

She couldn't believe Miyako would treat her—or anyone for that matter—like this.

Perhaps she was mad at Izumi for staying away for so long? But still, how could she not even show emotion, be it good or bad, for Izumi's return? Miyako was after all her best friend at one point so many years ago…

Izumi looked out the diner's window quietly. She felt something warm grab her hand. She looked up, startled.

She found herself looking into the peach colored eyes of Miyako.

"Izumi," Izumi noticed that she was speaking much more softly now. "Why did you come back?"

Izumi felt herself getting emotional again. "Doesn't matter, does it? You don't care."

"That was just for Tomoki and Shinya's sakes-"

"You want them to think that you hate me, Miyako?" Izumi asked quietly.

"Of course not! You know that I could never _hate_ you, Izumi!" Miyako lowered her mauve head.

"It's just that I was so confused when I saw you, after all these years, looking as though nothing had changed. I mean…when Hikari and I had to go to _JP_ all those years ago to find out what happened to you, because Takuya wasn't saying anything…would it have killed you to tell us what was going on? If you were in such pain, Hikari and I would have liked to known. But anyway, when I saw you, after all these years, I was confused because I wasn't _mad_ at you anymore. I was happy to see you, but I didn't want to be."

"I'm glad that you're happy to see me. I'm happy to see you! As for what happened five years ago…I didn't want to burden you guys with something that didn't involve you…"

"But we were your best friends, Izumi! Surely that must have counted for something?"

Izumi took her hand away from Miyako's.

"I had no idea how much people could change in five years," she sighed, staring out the window again.

"What?" Miyako thought for a second. "Oh, you've seen Takuya, haven't you?"

"And JP and, of course, the child who shares my name…"

"Little Izumi is a very bright girl," Miyako said, proudly. "I'd be honored to share my name with her. She's so smart…"

"And inquisitive, too. She must get that from Takuya," Izumi thought aloud.

"From Takuya? But-"

"Hey, it's good to see you guys suddenly getting along!" Kouichi interrupted, rushing over from the counter to the booth. "And Miyako, I'm so glad you're filling Izumi in on things that she _doesn't know_." Kouichi gave Miyako a sharp look.

Miyako gasped. "Ohmigod."

Izumi looked from Miyako to Kouichi. "Did I miss something?" she asked, sullenly.

"No!" Miyako and Kouichi said too quickly.

"Whatever," Izumi said tentatively. She turned her attention to Kouichi.

"Why do you keep ringing that bell?" she asked.

"He's trying to get the attention of our cooks," Miyako explained.

"Well it's rather rude of them to ignore him!" Izumi exclaimed.

Kouichi grinned. "They probably haven't heard me, Izumi. They're always fighting about something stupid…"

"If you knew them, Izumi, you'd know that they're always doing that-" Miyako stopped in mid-sentence. "What am I saying? You _do_ know them."

"Really? I do?" Izumi asked as Kouichi grinned wider.

Miyako got up from the booth and walked over to the table. She leaned over the counter, and cried, "Guys! Someone's here who's dying to see you!"

Izumi looked at Kouichi when Miyako said this. "She's not talking about me, is she? I'm not dying to see anyone."

"Just wait and see," Kouichi told her, sitting on the booth's table.

A few seconds later, a crash (which sounded a lot like dozens of pots, pans, and utensils falling) was heard from the back of the diner. Then, two men emerged from the back of the diner.

One of them had dark blue hair and a sharp handsome face. He was carrying a steaming pot. The other had bushy, maroon hair and was carrying a large tray in his hands. Both were wearing dirty aprons and lopsided chef hats.

"Who is it, Miyako? I bet they're here to taste my world-famous _soupe de la jour_!" The handsome one exclaimed, coming to the counter to face Miyako.

"What? The only thing 'world-famous' about that soup of yours is how awful it tastes! They probably came here to try some of my amazing sushi!" The maroon-haired one retorted, holding up his tray of sushi to Miyako's face.

"They came for my _soupe de la jour_, not for that rancid fish you have the audacity to serve to the customers."

"No, for my sushi!"

"_Soupe de la jour_!"

"Sushi!"

"_Soupe d_-" But he was interrupted when Izumi came up to the counter.

"Actually Ken, it isn't _soupe de la jour_ it's _soupe du jour_, and Davis, I don't think Miyako appreciates you putting your sushi up to her face like that," Izumi explained.

"Well, what are you, French?" Ken asked, turning to the source of the voice.

"What do you know?" Davis asked, also turning to Izumi.

It only took one look to recognize her…

Ken and Davis dropped what they were carrying, causing Miyako to scream, "I am so not cleaning that up!"

The two cooks ran to the other side of the counter and approached Izumi slowly.

"I don't believe it," Ken said, completely in awe. Davis nodded dumbly.

Izumi put her arms around their necks and hugged them. "I'm so happy to see you guys haven't changed at all! Still fighting as usual!"

"We're glad to see you, too, Izumi," Davis explained as the two of them hugged her back. When the three adults released, Davis turned to Ken.

"She is _so_ alive! You owe me ten bucks."

Ken reluctantly took out his wallet and paid Davis the money. Kouichi and Miyako looked at Ken and Davis in shock and Izumi looked livid.

"You thought she was dead?" Kouichi asked Ken.

"You made a bet over whether or not I was dead?" Izumi exclaimed.

Ken looked ashamed. "Well, you just left without a trace…"

"We thought JP killed you or something since he wasn't saying anything else but 'Izumi's gone'…" Davis trailed off.

"You thought I was a murderer?!" JP exclaimed, getting up from his booth and revealing that he was there. Miyako, Izumi, Kouichi, Ken, and Davis both turned to look at him.

"…I got hungry?" JP said, rubbing the back of his head.

"You're such a stalker, JP," Miyako retorted.

Izumi shook her head, smiling.

"Come on, Izumi, I'm gonna give you a tour of the rest of town," Kouichi said, outstretching his hand. "I think we need a change of scenery, anyway."

Izumi took his hand and together they walked out of the diner.

-

-

"Kouichi, I used to walk throughout this town all the time. I don't really need a tour," Izumi said as she walked with Kouichi downtown.

"Yeah, but that was five years ago. Things have changed, since then, like that electronics shop over there," he said, pointing to a large electronics shop across the street.

Izumi thought for a moment. "I'm pretty sure that was there before…"

"You have to look from the inside, too," Kouichi explained, dragging her across the street and into the shop.

Once they were inside, Izumi looked around. The shop was huge (then again, it took up nearly the whole block). There were massive T.V. monitors everywhere and dozens of light-up displays hanging throughout the shop. There was noise everywhere as cash registers beeped and children ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the several gizmos they saw everywhere. It seemed like a normal electronics shop to her.

"Kouichi! Finally, a _guy_ to talk to!" A short man with dark brown hair, cut bowl-cut style, exclaimed as he practically ran to Kouichi. "It's like everyone who walks through those doors is a girl that goes straight to-"

"Iori!" Kouichi exclaimed. "I _do_ have a girl with me and I'm surprised you didn't notice her. Why does nobody notice her the first time?"

Iori looked at the girl next to Kouichi. "You have a girl with you!" Iori was going to to cry with happiness. "May I help you? We have computers, laptops, MP3 players-"

"Iori," Izumi said, startled. "Don't you recognize me?"

Iori thought momentarily. "Should I?" he asked at length.

"Let's go, Izumi Orimoto, there's someone else here that will probably remember you," Kouichi said as he started to drag Izumi to another part of the store.

"Izumi?" Iori said. "Oh! Wait! Izumi!!!" He ran up to Kouichi and Izumi.

"Sorry!" he said, as he hugged her tightly.

"I'm happy to see you, Iori! Can you stop crushing me?" Izumi said.

"When did you come back?" Iori asked after he put her down.

"This morning," Izumi explained. Then she turned to Kouichi. "How many more surprises are there for me? Everywhere you take me you introduce me to an old friend!"

"Can you honestly complain about that?" Kouichi responded in a voice that sounded very much like he was flirting with the girl.

"No, but I would like to be prepared," Izumi responded. "And didn't you say that there was someone else here that I knew?"

Iori groaned. "I should have figured. Everyone loves to go to him…"

"Him?" Izumi thought aloud. "And if I knew you worked here, Iori, rest assured that this would be one of the first places I visited."

"That's ok, Izumi. I've got work to do, anyway." With that said, Iori told Izumi once again how happy he was to see her, and then he left to another part of the store. Izumi looked at Kouichi.

"So, Kouichi, tell me, where are we going next?"

"Nowhere, apparently," Kouichi said, pointing to a large group of girls that was approaching them.

"Ok, ladies, I know you all adore me, but I really do have to work," a smooth and familiar voice said from the middle of the group of girls. The group of girls whined but the girls eventually left, leaving a single man on the floor.

The man had big, chestnut brown hair and tanned skin. He looked around at Izumi and Kouichi, and he nearly lost his footing.

"Izumi! I've never been so happy to see a girl…today!" Taichi exclaimed, grabbing her hand and kissing it. "You know, I bet France had a lot of things, but it didn't have me, did it? That's why you came back, I know it is. And don't worry, Izumi, I'm just as thrilled to see you, too," he explained, getting awfully close to Izumi's face.

"Taichi, you haven't changed, not a single bit," Izumi said excitedly, hugging Taichi and giving him hearts as eyes.

Kouichi's jaw nearly dropped. "It figures that _you'd_ be the first person to notice her over me, Taichi."

"Oh, when did you get here?" Taichi asked as he noticed the other guy for the first time. Kouichi fell over anime-style.

Izumi smiled. "Last time I checked, you had to beg for girls' attentions, and now they form crowds around you! Very impressive…"

"What can I say, Izumi? I've got the magic touch-"

"No, you don't Taichi. You just give every girl you see a 90 discount on everything," Kouichi snapped. "That's the only reason they huddle around you like that."

"Well…I don't see any crowds of girls around you!"

Izumi laughed. "Do I not count for anything, Taichi?"

"You count for everything. Quit hanging around with that wet-blanket Kouichi and hang out with me."

"Sorry, but Kouichi's giving me a tour of the town. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't call him a wet-blanket. Now Kouichi, how many more surprises are there left? I've already met more than half of my old friends-"

"Like Takuya?" Taichi interjected, his voice serious.

"Yes," Izumi said quietly, causing Taichi to give her a worried look, "And his daughter."

"Little Izumi," Taichi said, smiling. "Isn't she adorable?"

"I suppose," Izumi answered.

"Of course she is! She's got my blood running through her!" Taichi exclaimed, fist-pumping the air.

Izumi hesitated. "…What?"

Kouichi gasped and quickly started to drag Izumi out of the shop. "It was nice seeing you, Taichi, and tell Iori 'bye' for us!" Kouichi said quickly as he rushed out of the shop.

"Wait…what did he mean?" Izumi asked Kouichi as they started to walk down the street. "About how his blood runs through Little Izumi…"

"Well…" Kouichi stalled. "We all consider Little Izumi our daughter, that's all." Kouichi knew that his excuse was lame, but Izumi wasn't ready for the truth.

"Oh."

The two adults approached a boutique. There was a gorgeous wedding gown displayed in the window.

"This is Hikari's boutique. Too bad her shop is closed," Kouichi said. Izumi sighed. "Oh well…"

Izumi turned to look at Kouichi. "What about Takeru? I haven't heard at all about him."

Kouichi choked. Her question threw him off guard. "You probably will…Let's go back to the park. They usually have vendors there by now, and we still haven't gotten you anything to eat."

Izumi got the feeling that she missed something, but she nevertheless followed Kouichi to the park.

-

-

Izumi was licking the last bits of her ice cream cone when she realized something.

"Kouichi! You've shown me everyone else and where they work, but what about you?"

Kouichi thought as he finished off the end of his popsicle. "Well, I'm currently getting my Masters, so I'm still in school."

"That's great," she told him.

"Thanks," Kouichi paused. "I bet you're also wondering where Takuya and JP work, right?"

"It crossed my mind once or twice…"

Kouichi threw out his popsicle stick in a nearby garbage can. "Well, JP is a soccer coach at the high school and Takuya works as a botanist for the local gardens."

"JP as a coach and Takuya working with flowers? Their jobs should be switched," Izumi said, laughing.

Kouichi smiled as they stopped under a cherry blossom tree.

"I have so many memories with those two," Izumi sighed. "I missed both of them soo much."

"Hey," Kouichi said, "Remember how JP would always leave the main house's door unlocked even though we all told him not to?"

"Yeah. We broke into the house one night to teach him a lesson and ransacked the whole place. I nearly forgot about that!" Izumi exclaimed as her eyes lit up with memories.

"JP freaked out when he saw the mess. He thought the robbers were after his vintage collection of bubble gum…eww…why would anyone want that?"

"That was the first thing he checked for when he saw the mess!" Izumi giggled.

"The next day he went to the hardware store and bought the strongest lock he could find," Kouichi said, chuckling.

"And he ended up cleaning the whole house!" Izumi laughed. "Oh God, he flipped out when we told him the whole story."

"Yeah, he locked the main house and didn't give any of us the key to punish us-"

"but then he ended up losing the key himself!" Izumi exclaimed. She was about to keel over with laughter. "That was hilarious!"

Kouichi smiled as he watched her.

"I love how you're doing that," Kouichi said quietly.

"Doing what?"

"Laughing."

Izumi gave Kouichi one of the nicest smiles she could. She looked up at the cherry blossom trees around her.

"They didn't have cherry blossoms in Italy." She sighed. "Oh, they're beautiful!"

"Yeah…beautiful," Kouichi said softly. Kouichi started to approach Izumi, and before she could do anything about it…

…he kissed her…

Izumi immediately broke away. "…umm…"

"Kouichi!" Takuya yelled as he appeared from behind a tree.

Izumi and Kouichi turned at the sudden noise. "Takuya? You were probably spying on us like JP was, weren't you?" Kouichi asked, irritably. Izumi took a step backwards, away from Takuya.

_Oh how he caused her to get those cursed butterflies every time she saw him!_

"I wasn't spying!" Takuya looked away from Kouichi as he blushed. He had no idea why he jumped out like that. Looking back, it was a stupid thing to do, but it was like a reflex. Impossible to predict, impossible to control.

"Then what were you doing?" Kouichi asked.

"I was taking a walk in the park. Walking relaxes me. I just happened to hear your voices," Takuya said, looking at Izumi.

Kouichi turned to Izumi. "Do you believe him?" he asked.

"I…um, walking in the park relaxes him…that's a fact," Izumi muttered, crossing her arms.

Takuya smiled.

"Izumi, can we walk?" Takuya asked. "Alone," he quickly added.

"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea," she said coolly.

"I agree," Kouichi said, quickly. Takuya glared at Kouichi; he hadn't suddenly forgotten about that kiss.

"Come on Izumi, it'll only take a few moments?" There was something about the way he pleaded to her.

Izumi smiled and mumbled, "Fine." She approached Takuya.

"Are you sure, Izu-chan?" Kouichi quickly asked, coming in front of Izumi.

"I'll be fine, Kouichi. Thank you for all that you've done for me in the past couple of hours," she said, bowing to Kouichi. Kouichi blushed and nodded. Takuya and Izumi set down the path.

-

-

Suddenly, going with Takuya was not such a bright idea. Neither of them were saying anything.

"Okay, I-"

"Listen, Izu-chan-"

They looked away from each other.

"Where are we going?" Izumi asked calmly.

"Main house," Takuya muttered.

"Oh," Izumi said. "Hey, nice weather, isn't it?" As soon as she said that, she felt like knocking her own head on a wall. This was like a bad first date.

"I wish you let me say what I needed to say instead of slamming that car door in my face," Takuya finally said. He sounded unusually bitter.

"I would've left anyway. So it wouldn't have made a difference," Izumi said indignantly.

"It would have made a world of difference," Takuya replied. Izumi gave him a sharp look.

The two of them stopped walking. They had come to the main house. As Takuya opened the door, all of Izumi's senses immediately became alert. How she missed its warm yellow color and cozy, inviting feeling! And she adored all the old furniture, the tables, the large green chair that only JP ever sat in…

"Home sweet home," Izumi said to herself.

"Shh," Takuya ordered, pointing to the small, pink sleeping bag that held the sleeping angel that was Little Izumi.

Izumi wanted to roll her eyes. She had forgotten about Little Izumi.

It was then that the smell hit Izumi. It was such a familiar smell that caused Izumi to warm from the inside out.

"That smells just like the hot cocoa Hikari used to make," Izumi told Takuya, sniffing the air. "Wait…" Izumi went to the corner of the main house where a small green door led to the main house's kitchen. She opened the door quietly.

A lovely chestnut-haired woman was stirring a large pot of something atop the stove.

Hikari sighed. "Little Izumi, I'm not done with the hot chocolate yet. And besides, you had three cups already, so I doubt you should even get any more."

Izumi opened the door a little wider and let herself in.

"Actually, Little Izumi's sleeping, but I'm here, if it's any consolation."

Hikari gasped and turned around, facing Izumi.

"Ohmigod… Izumi!" Hikari squeaked excitedly. Izumi ran up to the girl and hugged her tightly.

"I missed you so much, Hikari!"

Hikari pulled away from Izumi and looked her up and down. "I don't know whether to hug you some more or to hurt you! Do you have any idea how—"

"Upset you and Miyako were when I left without any notice? I know, and I'm extremely sorry-"

"Not that, silly," Hikari teased. Although she had been upset with Izumi, just being able to see her made Hikari happy. After all, they were best friends! "What I was going to say was do you have any idea how crummy my hot cocoa tastes without your homemade whipped cream topping?"

Izumi laughed. "Just get me some milk and sugar and we can fix that immediately."

-

-

Moments later, Izumi and Hikari came out of the kitchen, each with two cups of hot cocoa in their hands. Takuya was sitting pensively in a red armchair. He looked up when they came in.

"I'm glad you guys are talking," he said quietly.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Izumi asked, smiling.

"Good question," Hikari said, laughing strangely. "Why wouldn't best friends talk to each other, _Takuya_?" Hikari gave Takuya a harsh look.

"Umm… no reason," Takuya added.

Suddenly, a little two-foot-tall creature covered in a wooly pink sleeping bag hopped over to the three adults.

Little Izumi squeezed her head out of the sleeping bag she had it covered with and looked at the adults as excitement filled her sleepy eyes. "I smell hot cocoa—Hey, it's you!" she cried, pointing to Izumi.

Takuya jumped to his feet.

"Little Izumi, why don't you go back to sleep and let the grownups talk," Hikari tried to persuade, but unfortunately, Little Izumi had lost all interest in sleep.

"But mother! It's Big Iz-"

Izumi dropped two cups of hot cocoa.

"_Mother?!"_


	8. Takuya and Izumi

**Takuya**

He fidgeted awkwardly as he watched Izumi pat down the hot cocoa stains that were starting to set into the green carpet. The only sounds in the room were of her shuffling around and trying to wipe out the stains as best as she could.

Only a few moments ago, Little Izumi had called Hikari mother. Although the older Izumi had cried out when she heard this, she hadn't said a word since. Little Izumi was with Hikari in the kitchen, leaving Takuya and Izumi alone in the main room, which was all the more unnerving for both of them.

Feeling rather guilty, he went to Izumi, crouched on his knees, and leaned down to her level. Izumi ignored his presence and continued cleaning. When he grabbed the hand she was using to clean the stain, she looked up at him with stubborn eyes that she was trying to keep steady.

"I'm going to help you," he said.

She jerked her hand away. "I made the mess. I deserve to clean it," she replied in an ice cold voice.

"There's hot cocoa on your legs," Takuya murmured as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, feeling like a teenage boy loaded up with hormones. He scanned the length of her exposed legs with flickering eyes. "Let me get some of you—get something for you."

Izumi felt too numb to care. "I'm fine."

"We have to talk," Takuya replied at length, forcing his voice to come out more calmly than he actually felt. Why did Izumi have to have such control over his emotions?

"There's nothing to talk about." With that said, Izumi stood up and squeezed the rag in her hands. She cast her cold green eyes down at him like she was an ice queen.

"I'm pretty sure you want to hear what I'm thinking," Takuya said as he stood up, and being a whole head taller than her, ruining the intimidating effect Izumi was trying to create. "So yes, there is something to talk about."

"You're so wrong," Izumi growled as she wrung the life out of the poor rag in her hands. Her pale skin was reddening and the tears in her eyes wouldn't go away. She cast her head to the side and looked away. "Why would I ever want to talk with you?"

Takuya's breath caught in his throat. _She doesn't mean that,_ he told himself. "Izumi, please understand. The last time I needed to talk to you, you didn't want to listen and you ended up changing both our lives."

"But the change was for the better, wasn't it?" Izumi's head sharply turned back to him.

He couldn't possibly tell her how much he ached when he saw those tears falling from her eyes, and it caused him even more suffering to know that he had been the one to put them there. If only he hadn't brought her here; she never would have heard Little Izumi call Hikari mother, and she'd be happy right now.

Takuya thought back to when he saw her laughing with Kouichi. He used to laugh with her like that, but that was before, over five years ago. They always attracted each other's company in a crowd, and as soon as they came together, it like they couldn't stop smiling and joking. Takuya had thought that he and Izumi were just platonic friends, although throughout the years of his friendship, he could feel his want for a platonic friendship dying and his need to have her as something else, something more.

But despite the fact that he was starting to grow more feelings for her, he didn't realize that she, too, was trying to advance their friendship. Why was he such as idiot? Why didn't he realize what she was trying to say when she told him, "I love you"?

And now it was too late.

"The change was unexpected," Takuya started to say, "But it was…I mean, I can't even imagine life without my daughter anymore." It was the truth. Izumi crossed her arms.

"I'm so happy for you, Takuya." Izumi used her free hand to trim away teardrops hanging from her eyelashes. "And I'm so happy for Hikari."

Takuya looked on sullenly as Izumi ran into the kitchen.

-

"Mother," Little Izumi pressed as she pulled on Hikari's sleeve. "Why do we care what they're saying?" she asked for the thousandth time.

"Shhh…Mommy just wants to make sure that Daddy is alright," Hikari explained. "Shoot!" she hissed as she jumped away from the door.

A moment later, Izumi burst through the kitchen door. She threw the rag into the trash can with gusto. Silently, she went over to the small sink in the corner and turned the water on, washing her hands and then rubbing her legs to get rid of the hot cocoa there.

Takuya tentatively entered the silent kitchen. He looked at Hikari, and in response, Hikari simply shrugged her shoulders and bit her lip. The two of them were so confused as to what to do about the Italian girl that they didn't notice Little Izumi leave the room.

-

Little Izumi was very smart for her age. Her teacher said that she was reading at a first-grade level, and for a three-year-old, that was one of the best things she could ever be told. Many people claimed that the intelligence was in her genes, but Little Izumi simply attributed it to the fact that she was a naturally curious child.

And at the moment, when Little Izumi saw a big, light purple messenger bag that was very unfamiliar to her, her curiosity kicked in. She, like most little girls, loved to play dress up and carry around purses as if she were much older than she actually was, and this bag was just calling out to be played with.

"Wow! You're so big," she told the bag as she came closer to the table it had been placed beside. She tried to pull the bag by its strap towards her, with no success.

"And heavy!" She then decided to see what exactly was in the bag that made it so heavy.

-

Izumi tried to ignore the way Takuya and Hikari stared at her as she dried her hands, but she felt her patience was wearing thin as the couple continued to stare her down. Like she was an alien object!

"I might break if you stare at me too hard, damn it," Izumi snapped as she stalked over to the side of the kitchen Takuya and Hikari were standing in. After she said those harsh words, Izumi regretted it. Hikari looked like she might cry.

"We're just worried about you. Calm down," Takuya snapped back.

"I'm sorry," she offered meekly as she stared down at her feet, although she really did not care much for apologizing to the two of them.

Did they think she couldn't notice the nervous glances Takuya and Hikari gave to each other as they watched her at the sink? Were they truly worried about what she was going to do next? Did they really think she was so fragile and uptight that she was ready to break at any moment?

Takuya should know her better.

_Right now, you are pretty breakable, _her mind taunted.

I'm fine.

_You're far from fine. __You want to cry.  
_

Shut up. I just need to clear my head. This is not worth crying about.

_This denial thing is getting old._

I start getting too emotional every time I'm around him. I just need to be alone.

_You're always emotional around him. Why do you think that is?  
_

…

_Denial._

Make it stop, _please_.

_Make what stop?_

You know.

_Apparently not._ _What do you mean?_

You know. Stop playing dumb.

_I'm not the one playing dumb here. Now tell me again, make what stop?_

This lo-

"**Testing!** **Testing! Wow! This makes my voice go soooooo LOUD! Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!! HIHIHI! My name is Izumi! I'm three years old! My favorite color is pink! My favorite animal is the ponyyyyyyyyyy! I love dragons too but my daddy said that I can't have oneeeeee!!!!!!!!" **

The sudden noise broke the tension in the room. Izumi, Takuya, and Hikari jumped and covered their ears from the ringing the loudness caused.

"You bought her a toy microphone?" Takuya asked loudly to Hikari.

Hikari shook her head. "Not one that goes _that_ loud," she replied.

Izumi felt like slapping her head. "I think that's my microphone. I better get it back."

"_Your_ microphone?" Takuya asked. "You carry a microphone on you when you travel?"

"Yeah." She opened the kitchen door and went out with Takuya and Hikari following suit, exchanging curious glances with each other.

In the main room, Little Izumi was holding a very professional looking microphone in her hands, tapping the head of the microphone because she enjoyed the echoing sound it made. Izumi tried not to wince at the sight of a little kid playing with her equipment as if it were some sort of a toy. It was then that she noticed that the microphone was not the only thing Little Izumi had gotten to.

The big Izumi stared at the belongings of her bag, thrown all around the child. From her camera to her press badge and even her cell phone, everything from her bag had been emptied by the little girl.

"Little Izumi," Takuya said as he walked over to the girl. He crossed his hands over his chest and looked down at the child. "Where did you get that?"

"**The big bag!"** Little Izumi exclaimed excitedly, causing the adults to once again cover their ears.

"Was that _your_ big bag to be playing with?" Hikari asked, her hands never leaving her ears.

"**No, but mommy!** **Look at all the cool stuff in this bag!"** the child exclaimed as she pointed to the open bag and then to the items that lay around her.

"What do you do for a living?" Takuya asked Izumi incredulously as he stared at the various objects.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know anyone who would carry around a camera that huge wherever they go," Takuya explained as he pointed to the large, bulky device that seemed too big to even fit in the bag. "Wait, I know this! Are you a reporter?"

"I'm a journalist, and I have to do many on-the-set reports," Izumi explained proudly, tilting her chin upwards a little. "The camera is an essential thing to have when you're in my line of work."

Takuya noticed a card laying at Little Izumi's feet. He picked it up and read the words on the card aloud.

"The Red Seashell. Is that where you're staying?"

Izumi muttered a 'yes' as she crouched down and picked her cell phone off the floor. She looked at the screen of her phone and noticed that she had several missed calls.

"10 Missed calls? I'm late!" she cried as her eyes lit up with remembrance. She grabbed her large bag and started to stuff all her equipment into it.

"I'm going to need this back. Let go," she told Little Izumi as she tried to pry the microphone out of the toddler's hands.

"But I love it so much! Can I have it? Please?" the young girl asked, pulling the microphone towards her and making her eyes as large and watery as possible because that's always what made Takuya obey her wishes.

However, Izumi was not Takuya. Izumi jerked the microphone from the girl's hands and crammed it into her bag. She stood up and dusted herself off.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again, Hikari," Izumi said as she adjusted the strap of her bag over her shoulder. "And it was truly lovely to meet the girl who shares my name."

Hikari's cherry eyes started to shake with worry. "Izu-chan…"

"Where are you going?" Takuya asked; the way Izumi was talking was starting to make Takuya feel very suspicious and nervous…Just like that day five years ago.

"I'd love to stay and talk more, but I'm late so I have to go." Without another word, she turned on her heel and ran out the door.

A couple of moments passed while Takuya and Hikari just stared at the door, unable to comprehend what just happened so quickly.

"Mother? Father?" Little Izumi asked, noticing that both her parents had suddenly become unusually quiet. Then a thought dawned on her. "I want to be like Big Izumi and have a microphone just like hers!"

"Do you think she's going back to Italy?" Takuya asked worriedly. Hikari bit her lip, as if she was trying to make a difficult decision.

"Takuya," Takuya and Little Izumi looked up at the woman, for her voice did not have the stable, soft and soothing sound it usually did. It was upset and stressed.

"Hikari?"

"Mother?"

"Don't make the same mistake, twice, Takuya. Please." Why did she look so upset all of a sudden? "Go after her. She needs you. Help her like you helped me."

_You're not alright, Hikari._ Takuya pulled out one of the seats from the clubhouse's table. "Sit down."

"Please, Takuya, help her. Stop her from leaving."

Although Takuya knew that Hikari was not at her best at the moment, he knew she was also right. If he didn't stop Izumi from leaving now, who knew when they'd ever meet again?

He thought about it. A life without ever seeing Izumi Orimoto again. That oh-too familiar tight feeling reappeared in his chest.

Putting his arms firmly on Hikari's shoulders, he sat his wife down on the chair he pulled out. "Feel better, Hikari." He smiled at the two girls in the room and left.

-

-

He knew she couldn't have gotten too far in the two-minute head start she had. Still, Takuya found himself walking quickly (nervously, really), throughout the park's path.

But then, amidst the clouds bleak grayness of the clouds that had started to form that day, he saw Kouichi, much to Takuya's disdain (he remembered that kiss), conversing with Izumi.

The worst part of the scenario was the black car that was parked in front of the gates. It looked almost identical to the car that had left in all those years ago, and this fact filled Takuya up with indignation.

"Izumi!" he cried as he ran up to the two adults.

Kouichi seemed a bit upset at the sight of Takuya, but he quickly changed his face to a look of apathy. Izumi, on the other hand, felt her face getting red again. She could feel the words 'flustered' and 'nervous' being written on her face using the much-hated red ink of blush. Shit. She wasn't expecting him to follow her, though she did find herself feeling a bit better that he did. Why did he have such control over her feelings?

"Izu-chan," Takuya panted for a few seconds as he caught his breath. "Why's that car here?"

"It's hers. The airport dropped it off a couple of hours ago," Kouichi responded, sharply. Her car. This must have been what she was late for. Still, Takuya tried to look for the good in this situation.

"You had your car brought over? That means you're staying, right?" Takuya asked. He put his hands over her shoulders and leaned down so that their eyes were locked on each other.

_So brown…_

_Green _was _always my favorite color__…_

"I…n-no! Uh, I just had it brought over i-in case I decided to stay for a little w-while," Izumi explained, keeping her eyes focused on Takuya's.

"But she's decided that staying isn't right for her," Kouichi cut in, noticing that these two were lost in their own little world.

"You don't have to go," Takuya reminded. "No one wants you to."

"I want to," Izumi answered. "Takuya, returning here was a mistake."

"Don't say that."

Izumi turned her head away from Takuya. "It's just that…too much has changed in five years. I can't—"

"Izu-chan! Nothing has changed!" Kouichi, Takuya and Izumi turned to the source of the new voice.

Hikari was standing at the gates of the park, her daughter right behind her. Hikari's hands were at her sides, hands clenched into little fists.

"Nothing has changed," Hikari repeated. Little Izumi nodded in agreement with her mother, not knowing that she was one of the biggest causes for Izumi's melancholy disposition.

"Yes it has. God, I really don't want to argue about this anymore." Izumi opened the back door of her car and threw in her large bag.

Little Izumi noticed this. The bag was so close_…_and she really wanted to play with the microphone again. If only she could get into the car for just a second!

"Maybe…" As Izumi started to speak, Takuya, Hikari and Kouichi looked up in hope. "It was a very good thing that I left." She looked up at Takuya.

"Are you insane, woman?" Takuya snapped.

"You don't mean that," Kouichi tried to convince himself.

"Forget it. You didn't understand it then so you probably wouldn't get it now." Smiling wryly, Izumi crossed over to the front of her car and pulled open the door.

"Izumi, why do you have to make this so complicated?" Hikari demanded as she walked over to Izumi's door. Izumi hadn't gotten into the car yet, so Hikari knew she still had time to change the girl's mind.

"I'm not making anything complicated. Why don't any of you understand? Your lives have been fine for the past five years. You don't need me to come back and mess everything up! I mean, duh, it's so obvious_…_" Izumi sighed as she looked at Takuya, Hikari, and Kouichi's confused faces. "Please try to think of what I'm saying."

"But you going anywhere won't solve anything," Kouichi said.

"Wait…you can't go anywhere, really, you can't," Takuya said. "You don't have a Japanese driver's license!"

"I am an international journalist so I have an international license."

Takuya and Kouichi's faces could not help but show the disappointment that they felt.

"Please don't go, Izumi. You don't know what happened the last time you did this," Hikari explained.

Izumi looked at Hikari and then at Takuya. As she got into her car, she quietly said, "I don't think I want to know."

Takuya came in front of her car, placing his hands angrily on the hood, and stared straight through the glass at Izumi.

"You can't run away every time something doesn't go your way," he declared.

"Takuya, why can't you realize that your life is better off without me?!" Izumi replied as her eyes became sharp and focused.

Why were all of them making this so hard for her? She just wanted to go home, to Italy, on the other side of the world…She hated the feeling of being here and hated…

…the fact that her best friend married _him_.

"My life was _miserable_ without you, Izumi!"

Izumi and Hikari gasped.

"Liar," Izumi accused. "You better go out of my way." She inserted her key and pressed her foot on the pedal: the car turned on. Takuya knew that there was no stopping her now.

Takuya stepped aside, watching miserably as she and her car drove away. He knew that this could very possibly be the last time he ever saw her…heard her voice…stared into those emerald green eyes…_Shit_…what had he done?

"How could you let her do that?" Kouichi asked angrily. "Why didn't you tell her what really happened all those years ago? She needed to know!"

"Why didn't _you_ stop her?" Takuya asked indignantly as he glared at Kouichi behind him.

"Because, she wanted to hear it from you. She _needed_ to hear it from you."

"You are _ridi_—"

"Guys," Hikari said, a little panicky, "Where's Little Izumi?"

* * *

**Izumi**

Izumi drove furiously through the streets of Japan, occasionally staring at the houses and buildings that she used to visit. However, due to the rain that had started, sightseeing wasn't exactly the best thing to do, so she continued to drive.

_It was raining that day five years ago, too, do you remember?_

"Déjà vu," Izumi said quietly as she continued to drive. She was on the main route now.

"What's _they go boo_ mean?" a small voice asked as she popped her head up from the back seat. Izumi, who just felt the life scared out of her, looked back to see if her ears had deceived her.

"Little Izumi? _What the f-_" Izumi nearly steered off the road as soon as she heard the little girl giggle in excitement. Luckily, she was able to pull the car over to the side of the route.

"Who went _boo_?" the little girl asked eagerly.

"What are you doing here?" Izumi snapped. "And you scared me half to death! Are you crazy? Why are you here?"

Little Izumi was rarely ever yelled at, so hearing Big Izumi's anger was very unnerving for the three-year-old. Therefore, despite all her efforts to act like a big girl and not care, her little lips started to tremble and she started to snivel. Eventually, though, she started to cry.

"_Zut_! I mean, sorry…I'm so sorry! Umm…you want to play with my microphone?" Izumi asked nervously, trying to make amends with the girl.

Little Izumi's crying magically came to a halt. "Yeah!"

* * *

"Orimoto, Izumi," Izumi told the receptionist as she checked in. "I believe I made reservations."

"Ahh…yes, of course. There you are. Oh—I see you received a phone call."

"Was it from Takuya Kanbara or perhaps Hikari Kanbara?"

"Why yes, actually. From Hikari Kanbara. She said she's coming over."

-  
-

Izumi looked out her room's window and looked back over, for the millionth time, at the phone. She was expecting the call that said Takuya and Hikari had come to pick up their daughter any minute.

There was a thunderstorm outside, and that probably made the traffic horrible, so Izumi figured she had a few minutes to relax. She walked over to her bed and sat down, opposite the little girl who was also sitting on it.

"You really like that microphone, don't you?" she asked the girl who kept switching the microphone from on to off to on again, etc.

"I've never had a toy like this. It goes so loud! I love it!" Little Izumi exclaimed.

"You have the excitement of your mother and father," Izumi thought aloud as she ran a hand through Little Izumi's golden blonde hair. "Hikari was an exciting dancer who could never sit still, and then of course there's Takuya…I can't think why he'd ever name you after me."

Izumi sighed and looked away. She didn't notice the stare that Little Izumi was giving her.

"I already told you, Big Izumi. He named me after the only woman he ever loved."

"Really? And your mother, Hikari, what is she?"

"My mother."

"Exactly." Izumi moved back to press her back against the headboard. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her hands over them. She leaned her head onto her hands and mirrored the little girl's stare.

"What does it mean?" Little Izumi asked.

"What does what mean?"

"Izumi."

"Oh…umm, it means 'fountain'. It's not special."

"_I_ like it," Little Izumi said quietly.

"Thank you."

Little Izumi put the microphone in her hands down on the bed. She crawled to where Izumi was sitting and looked up at her. "I wish you could stay. I think that would make my father happy."

Izumi felt her face getting wet again. "No it wouldn't."

"You cry a lot."

"…Sorry."

"My mother told me that real men cry. Does that mean real women cry, too?"

"Don't ever be afraid to show your feelings, Little Izumi," Izumi said quietly. "Never keep things to yourself."

Just then, a knock was heard on Izumi's door. Izumi quickly got up and looked through the door's peephole.

"It's your parents."

To say that Takuya and Izumi were worried was an understatement. As soon as the door was opened, Hikari ran inside and rushed over to the bed. She picked up her daughter and cried with happiness.

"Oh, Izumi! Please don't ever scare me like that again!"

Takuya leaned on the doorway and let out a huge sigh of relief. Izumi heard him repeat "she's okay" at least five times as he watched Hikari embrace their daughter. He finally walked to his wife and daughter and kissed his daughter's hair several times.

Izumi watched this scene unfold and couldn't help but feel a wave of uselessness wash over her. Takuya was happy. Hikari was happy. Their daughter was happy. Izumi was, as they say, Takuya's 'unlucky childhood friend'. She was not necessary in this equation. Her eyes were fighting back tears for she knew that she could not look weak, not now.

"Izumi," Hikari said. Big Izumi looked up, only to see that Hikari was talking with Little Izumi. "Go with your father. I need to talk with Big Izumi."

Little Izumi jumped into her father's arms and Takuya started to walk away. However, Big Izumi stopped him and picked the microphone off of the bed.

"I think Little Izumi would like this," she said as she handed the little girl the microphone. Little Izumi looked ecstatic and Takuya simply nodded in thanks and continued to walk away.

When he was in the doorway, he turned around and said, "I'll be in the lobby."

When they left, Hikari walked to the door and closed it. "Izu-chan….thank you for taking care of her…"

Izumi simply sat down on her bed. She wasn't sure why Hikari wanted to talk to her, but she knew it probably would end up depressing her more.

"You're welcome, Hikari."

"I suppose you're wondering why I wanted to talk to you," Hikari assumed tentatively as she sat down beside Izumi on the bed.

"Hikari, you're not going to change my mind. I'm leaving, and that's that," Izumi explained. "So if you're trying to persuade me otherwise, it's just going to be a waste of time."

"Alright then," Hikari said as she nodded her head. "But my intentions were actually to tell you something, not try and make you stay, although I'd really like it if you could." Hikari took a deep, steadying breath.

"This is a story you really need to hear," Hikari continued. If Izumi was interested, she did not show it. She just sat on her bed and listened quietly.

"Okay, what is it exactly that I need to hear?" Izumi finally asked.

Hikari got up and brought the chair from the hotel room's desk to in front of Izumi. She sat on it, her legs crossed and her arms resting on the armrests patiently, although she kept shifting the position of her legs and tapped her fingers on the chair's handle rather quickly.

Izumi looked at Hikari as she did this and wondered why Hikari suddenly seemed to be so nervous. Hikari pressed her back against the chair and looked at Izumi, her eyes focused on the Italian girl.

"You need to know what happened while you were gone. So I am going to tell you."


	9. Hikari

**Hikari**

-

-

_**Five years earlier**_

**-**

**-**

The weather reports said that the rain would only worsen throughout the day, and judging by the gloomy gray clouds that stretched over the sky, she figured this was a more-than-likely-to-occur prediction.

17-year-old Hikari Yagami and Daisuke Motomiya were closing their umbrellas under the archway of the school's stoop.

"C'mon, Kari, I only need acouple of answers," Daisuke groaned as the two walked into the building. "Why won't you just let me see the math homework?"

Hikari unbuttoned her pink jacket. "Because you always say you need a few problems. But you end up copying the whole thing."

"…so?"

"_So_… you should've been working on the homework instead of playing that stupid video game til 2 in the morning. I know you were," Hikari explained as the two came to a halt at the end of the hallway.

"Well! I am offended! I most certainly was not playing video games!"

"Liar, I live down the hall from you. Do your homework." She turned the corner, leaving Daisuke in a frustrated mess.

Just as she turned another corner (her locker was at the other end of the school), she bumped into someone else who clearly did not seem to know where they were going. Had it been anyone else, especially an underclassmen since everyone knew that upperclassmen ruled (muahahaha), she would've told them to watch where they were going. However, it was one of her good friends, so suddenly she felt the need to apologize.

"Sorry, Takuya!"

"Sorry Hikari," the handsome seventeen-year-old boy replied. Hikari, hearing the boy's voice, looked up at him. He was soaked, like he had been caught in the rain without an umbrella, and not only that, he seemed to be sniffling, all the while keeping his eyes uncharacteristically low.

But it was his voice that Hikari was most alarmed at. It made a strange, tense sound that Hikari was sure she had never heard him use before. Hikari found herself staring at the boy in a confused manner.

"Did you catch a cold, Takuya?" She asked, at length.

Takuya ran a hand through his wet hair and winced. "Uh… yeah, I guess I did." Just as he said that, he sniffled, and Hikari smiled. _Boys_.

"Was it the rain?" she asked. He nodded his head and Hikari felt the urge to roll her eyes. "Why didn't you bring an umbrella?"

"I had an umbrella," the boy replied slowly, as if he was having trouble concentrating, "but I think I dropped it…"

"And you didn't think to pick it up?" Hikari asked. Takuya shrugged. "Well, I'm glad I ran into you. Was Izumi on the bus this morning?"

The boy's eyes widened and the smile he was trying to put on immediately washed away.

"No, she wasn't on the bus this morning. Do you know where she is?" he asked suspiciously.

"Well if she wasn't on the bus then she probably got a ride, so that means she should've arrived already," Hikari explained. "Good."

Takuya stared at the girl for a second with a very surprised look on his face, but Hikari took this look as confusion instead.

"See, Izu-chan and I have this killer presentation in history today and she was supposed to come in this morning to make color copies of our pamphlet," Hikari enlightened. "I should get to my locker now. I'll see you later, Takuya!" She walked away, leaving the boy in a more shocked state than ever.

At her locker, Hikari started to unpack her belongings from her bag, and that's when she noticed the vibrating feeling. She dug deeper into her bag and found her cell phone, saying that she had one new text message.

She opened it and was slightly surprised by what she saw:

_I won't be in school today, but I e-mailed you the pamphlets. All you need to do is make copies._

_-izu-chan_

"No…" If Izumi wasn't in school today, then did that mean she would have to do the history presentation by herself? Hikari started to punch in a reply message to Izumi, but the homeroom bell started to ring. Hikari closed her locker a bit harder than usual and stomped off to homeroom.

-

"Inoue, Miyako," the teacher called.

"Here!" Miyako replied. She turned to Hikari.

"What are you doing, Hikari?" Miyako asked as she saw her best friend desperately dialing numbers on her phone. She leaned over her desk and saw that Hikari was typing a message on her phone.

"Kanbara, Takuya," the teacher called.

"Here," Takuya said as he raised his hand. If it wasn't for his raised hand, the teacher actually wouldn't have noticed him for his voice seemed very low that morning.

"Ugh! Izumi and I have big presentation today but she sent me a message saying she's not coming to school," Hikari said.

"Ouch."

"Kimura, Kouichi," the teacher called.

"Here."

"Tell me about it! And what's worse is that every time I try to send her a message, my message gets sent right back to me because it says her phone is 'not in range'. What on earth does_ that_ mean?" Hikari snapped her phone shut.

"Minamoto, Kouji," the teacher called.

"Here."

"You probably won't have to present without her. That's unfair," Miyako said.

"Probably, but it's kind of unexpected, Mi-chan. Izumi is hardly ever absent."

"Motomiya, Daisuke," the teacher called.

"Here!"

"Yeah, I can't remember the last time she wasn't in class," Miyako mused. "She's probably really sick. Poor girl."

Hikari agreed.

"Orimoto, Izumi," the teacher called. No response, so the teacher tried again. "Orimoto, Izumi."

"Izumi Orimoto is gone," JP Shibayama said from his seat at the other end of the classroom. Just his tone of voice, that same tense sound that Takuya's voice had that morning, caused the class to suddenly look at the boy.

"Gone?" the teacher asked JP as the rest of the class (excluding Takuya) exchanged somewhat surprised looks with each other.

"Yeah, she's not coming back," JP said as he looked off to the side. The teacher, very confused, looked through the papers he had received in his school mailbox that morning. Sure enough, there was a note from the main office explaining that Izumi Orimoto had pulled out of classes early that morning.

"…You're right," the teacher said as he held up the note. Hikari glanced worriedly at Miyako. Suddenly, the history presentation didn't seem to matter as much anymore.

"I guess you should learn her part for the presentation, Hikari," Takuya said quietly from the seat diagonally in front of the girl. Hikari turned around to look at Takuya so quickly that she felt whiplash burning in her neck. It didn't take her long to try and piece everything together. _It wasn't a cold that made him so upset…_

"What happened?" Hikari asked as her eyes shook.

"Is everything alright with Izumi?" Miyako demanded, getting a bad feeling in her stomach.

But it was unfortunately at that moment that the first period bell rang, and the rest of the class, however confused they were, stood up and shuffled away. Miyako and Hikari were the last to leave, both occasionally glancing at each other and vowing to find out what actually happened.

* * *

By lunch that day, nearly all of the junior class had found out that Izumi Orimoto was gone. After a ton of glaring and under the table kicking during math class, JP finally revealed to Miyako and Hikari (who sat on either side of him, making the kicks he received from both sides very painful) that Izumi had gone to Italy and had no plans to return.

"Kouji told me he had a long talk with Takuya," Hikari said as she tapped her fingers on the lunch table nervously, completely ignoring her tray of food. "According to Kouji, her departure has something to do with Takuya."

"I can't believe she would leave and not say anything to us," Miyako cried as she stabbed her juice pouch with the straw.

"Hey, guys," a new voice said as he came beside Hikari. His voice was a bit quiet, wondering how Izumi's two best friends were taking all these rumors that were flying around. So as he set his books down beside Hikari's untouched food, he stared at the two girls carefully, noticing that they did not look happy.

"T.K," Hikari said as she stared her cherry eyes at the boy. Takeru Takaishi could hardly stand to see the hurt reflected in her red pools as he sat down. "It's horrible. Did you hear?"

"Those rumors about Izumi? Yeah. They sound pretty bad," Takeru said quietly.

"What's even more horrible is that they're not rumors, Takeru," Miyako said. "Our homeroom teacher got a note saying that Izumi won't be coming back."

"Her suddenly leaving has something to do with Takuya, and JP knows what it is. They're apparently the only two people that saw her right before she left," Hikari looked around to make sure that no one else was eavesdropping. "She _really_ cared for Takuya. Once, she even told me that she might have been in love with him."

"That's odd because, well, I always thought that he had feelings for her as well," said Takeru.

"Are you sure? Izumi kept telling us that Takuya wouldn't ever reply whenever she tried to tell him of her feelings…that he would just brush her off by saying that he loved all of his friends." Miyako said as she put her hand over her forehead and the look on her face suddenly turned very upset. "We'll find out soon enough what happened. I don't care if I have to beat the life out of Kouji."

"Are you two going to be alright?" Takeru asked as he saw Hikari's face also turn into one of true sadness.

Izumi had been her, Hikari's, best friend since they met. They instantly clicked, just like she and Miyako had when they first met. Neither of the three girls had a sister, so they always came to each other when they problems/boy news/clothes emergency, etc. The fact that Izumi was gone now suddenly made her feel like a very important part of her just vanished; it was a feeling completely unfamiliar to Hikari, as well as Miyako.

"No," Hikari replied.

"Not at all." Miyako brought her head down to rest on the tabletop.

* * *

-

-

**Two years later**

-

-

Hikari Takaishi twirled in the currently empty living room of her apartment, enjoying the feeling of the hardwood floor on her bare feet and the warmth of the sun pouring over her. What she enjoyed most of all, however, was the way the sunlight deflected off of her wedding band, making the diamonds in it shine more beautifully than ever.

Indeed, the two of them—Hikari and Takeru—were very young, perhaps too young, when they got married, but they felt that they had found their soul mates in each other. After all, they had been going out since they were in seventh grade and had known each other well before since.

Actually, Hikari admitted as she thought to herself, it if wasn't for the trip, she and Takeru would never have been married.

The trip…when Hikari first heard about it, she wanted to scream, but it had been the thing that brought her and Takeru closer than ever.

Takeru, proving his near-genius capabilities, as well as his prowess on the basketball courts, had been accepted to a top-notch school on academic and athletic scholarships, and he attended (he would start his sophomore year in the upcoming fall) however, these schools were on the other side of the world, which caused definite parting for him and Hikari.

To make matters so much worse, Takeru had been invited by that same top-notch school to join them on a trip, normally open only to the smartest of upperclassmen that currently attended the school, to the deep forests of Japan to collect very rare plants and bring them back to the school. The school went every year on this expedition, and it was an honor to be chosen, especially if you were only an incoming sophomore.

However, if Takeru were to go on this trip, he would have to leave in early summer and come back right before school started. And then of course, when school started, he would have to go to the other side of the world. Hikari had gone into a slight depression after hearing all of this, but Takeru, being as brilliant as he was, decided to surprise her with the greatest gift he could think of.

One day, he drove her on what Hikari thought was another one of their road trips. It was just a week before he had to leave for the trip, and Hikari seemed rather quiet. It turned out that he actually drove her to a chapel and proposed to her right on the spot. He had given her the ring then, and he had explained to her that he had put a four-year lease on an apartment that they could share until he had to leave. After that, Hikari would live there alone until he came back for holidays and such.

Hikari was naturally afraid at first. Things just seemed to be happening so quickly, but the fact was, she agreed and they were married in the chapel that afternoon.

They moved into their apartment three days later, after much shock and anger from their parents.

Well, Hikari's parents didn't seem to mind so much. They were worried, of course, that Hikari was too young, but they had to admit that Takeru was a very smart boy, and that he would never let anything happen to their daughter. Taichi, however, was like a raging bull. He didn't believe that Takeru had the nerve to marry his sister without _his_ consent (but he approved eventually and gave the couple his best wishes).

Takeru's parents, on the other hand, were not pleased at all. How could their son, their brilliant, perfect son, fall in love with a girl like Hikari, and then propose to her and actually marry her? She was not as smart as him. She was going to a regular state college, nothing incredibly special like the school Takeru was going to attend. They were horrible for each other! It was a good thing that Takeru had his own bank account, for Takeru's parents virtually disowned him after they found out the news. They did not speak to him nor did they accept Hikari as part of their family.

Miyako (who nearly fainted after she found out the news) and the rest of their friends hoped the best for the couple and even threw the couple a surprise house-warming party.

Hikari sighed in content as she walked over to the pile of gifts that lay in one corner of the living room. She picked up the tabletop waterfall that Takuya had gotten her.

She wondered how Izumi would have taken the news. It had been two years, but she still found herself thinking of her.

"Hey," Takeru said as he appeared in the living room with a large suitcase at his side, "I think the cab's arrived outside."

Hikari immediately looked at the man and went over to the window. There was a yellow van parked outside.

"You're right, as always," she said with a bittersweet smile on her face as she continued staring out the window. She felt two arms on her shoulders and turned around to face him.

They hugged for what seemed like mere seconds before the two of them had to say their goodbyes.

"Try not to get bitten by one of those nasty forest bugs," Hikari said as she waved goodbye to him from the doorway of the apartment complex.

"I'll try no to," Takeru cried as he waved goodbye to his wife. All too quickly, it seemed, he got into the cab and it moved away, leaving Hikari with a heavy heart.

* * *

It was two weeks later that Hikari found herself in Miyako's room and Miyako seemed to be in love with Hikari's wedding ring.

"It's just so beautiful!" Miyako exclaimed for the umpteenth time as she admired the way the piece of jewelry shined on Hikari's hand.

"You say that every time you see it," Hikari laughed as she pulled her hand away.

"Seriously, though, look at you: Married, living in a beautiful apartment. And then there's me: Single and living at home," Miyako sighed as she rolled over on her bed.

Hikari bit her lip for a second, wondering if she should say what was on her mind. After a few seconds of debating, she glanced at her ring and attempted to ask in a casual voice, "What do you think Izumi would've thought of all of this?"

Miyako let out a disappointed and slightly frustrated sigh. She rolled over and shot Hikari a dirty look.

"Kari. We've been over this."

"She could tell the carat of a jewel from a mile away," Hikari said as she stared at her ring, ignoring Miyako.

"Christ, would you please stop thinking about her? We haven't heard from her in two years, meaning she obviously doesn't think about us," Miyako exclaimed as she sat up.

"Forgive me, Mi-chan; I've just been seeing the good in a lot of things lately," Hikari teased as she leaned her back against Miyako's bed.

"Yeah I guess getting married will do that to you." Miyako threw a pillow at the girl. Hikari laughed and threw the pillow right back. The two girls spent quite some time playing this game, and when they were done, nearly an hour later, Hikari was practically sprawled on the floor and Miyako was laughing her heart out in the opposite corner of the room.

"We haven't done that since we were like...eight," Hikari said in between giggles.

"Promise me we'll still have moments like these," Miyako asked walked over to her friend. She extended her hand and Hikari grabbed it. Miyako pulled her friend up and Hikari smiled in return.

"Of course we will. We're dorming together aren't we?" Hikari reminded. "I mean, unless you're ok commuting to school, but seeing as how it's a two hour drive…"

"You're not gonna get rid of me that easily, roommate," Miyako as she placed her hands on her hips. She was about to add that Hikari better not snore anymore, but a soft ringing sound interrupted her. "Wait…do you hear that?"

Hikari strained her ears and gasped. "Phone!" She ran over to Miyako's desk and dug through her purse. "I set the volume on low because I was sleeping and my mom kept calling every two minutes to see if I needed anything…she's so paranoid that I can't take care of myself."

"Who was it?" Miyako asked.

"It's an unknown number," Hikari said as she stared at the unknown number. "Wait, they left a message."

Hikari entered her voicemail. She was expecting some stupid telemarketer or something equally as ridiculous, but when she heard Mrs. Takaishi's—that is, Takeru's mother's—voice on the phone, she became slightly startled.

Miyako watched Hikari's eyes go from dull to surprised and then to panicked, all in the span of a few seconds. Her mouth opened slightly, so Miyako figured that whatever message Hikari received couldn't have been good news.

"Umm…everything alright, Hikari?" She asked as she walked over to her best friend.

Hikari shut her phone off slowly, her mouth still remaining slightly opened, and turned to the other girl as if she were in a trance of some sorts.

"It was T.K's mom," she said quietly. "She's at our apartment right now and wants me to meet her there immediately."

"Woah. For what?" Miyako asked.

"I don't know, but she sounded really upset," Hikari explained as she bit her lip. "I think something's wrong."

Despite the worried feeling that Miyako was getting in the very bottom of her stomach, she feigned the best smile she could and said, "Don't worry. I'm sure it's nothing like that at all."

"I hope so," Hikari sighed. "I better go."

"Why don't you let me drive you?" Miyako suggested.

-

Ten minutes later, Miyako's car pulled up in front of Hikari and Takeru's apartment complex, and sure enough, Mrs. Takaishi was standing there, her back facing them. She wasn't alone. Mr. Takaishi, Takeru's father, was standing there as well with a most disheartened look gracing his features.

"Why is he here?" Miyako asked under her breath as she drummed her fingers across the steering wheel nervously.

Hikari said nothing. She was getting more and more nervous by the second.

Hikari felt herself choke as she looked out the passenger side window. She actually hadn't spoken to Mrs. Takaishi at all since the wedding. Mr. Takaishi was not exactly her biggest fan either. Mr. Takaishi was the first to notice the car there and he called out to his wife. Mrs. Takaishi turned around, her face becoming visible to the two girls in the car. Hikari was expecting that snooty look she had always received from the woman, however, she felt the hairs on her neck stand up when she saw…

"Ohmigod," Hikari gasped as she released her seatbelt, "she's _crying_."

Hikari immediately swung open her door and ran out to the Takaishi's.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she ran up to the woman and showed her genuine concern.

"Miss Hikari, I think we should talk inside," Mr. Takaishi said. His voice was strange.

"What happened?" Miyako cried as she ran over to her friend. She looked at Hikari only to realize that her best friend had started to cry.

"Please, will one of you tell me what happened?" Hikari asked, forcing her voice to be somewhat calm, as she watched Mr. Takaishi pat his wife's shoulder. The couple sat down on the couch opposite of the recliner Hikari and Miyako had been sitting on.

"The trip..I mean, the people on that expedition Takeru went on…they, they well alerted us," Mr. Takaishi started to say.

"When T.K registered for the trip he was still living with you, so I guess your phone number was the one they used," Hikari said, again forcing a collected voice, as she tried to push the conversation along.

"Right, well of course." Hikari watched as the color drained from Mr. Takaishi's face. "They were supposed to take a plane over the forest to get an aerial view of the land."

"I know," Hikari said. Takeru had excitedly filled her in on the details on his trip. Her hands dug deeper into the skin on her knees.

"_My Takeru!"_ Mrs. Takaishi cried as her face fell into her hands.

A nasty wind swept over Hikari as she watched the older woman shake in her seat. "Please tell me, what happened to Takeru?"

"There was a fog yesterday, the morning of the plane ride," Mr. Takaishi said quietly as he tried to hide the nervous breaks in his voice. As he continued to pat his wife's shoulders he looked at Hikari with pure grief in his eyes. "The pilot couldn't see… the plane crashed…."

It hurt like a bolt of lightning had struck her into a trillion little pieces. Hikari pushed away the emotional explosion within her and looked for the ray of light.

"But everyone's ok. There were no reported deaths," Hikari said firmly.

"…No-"

"The school goes on this trip every year. It's just a trip. A trip! Nobody gets hurt on school trips," Hikari started to say despite all the tears that were streaming down her heart-shaped face.

"They recovered some bodies," Mr. Takaishi said as his hands started to shake. He let go of his wife's shoulder and took off his glasses and he clutched them in his palms.

"But not Takeru's," Hikari stated. She felt Miyako grab her hand, her ice cold hand, in an effort to comfort her.

Mrs. Takaishi, at Hikari's words, just started to sob more and more.

Mr. Takaishi wiped some tears away from his eyes. "Takeru's was the first body they found."

Hikari pressed her lips together and nodded.

* * *

The first thing Hikari heard was a soft beeping sound. It was continuous and wouldn't go away, no matter how hard she dug her head into her pillow.

Pillow? She felt her hand reach around her head and grab the feathery softness of her pillow.

That's when it hit her.

This had all been a dream! Some twisted, horrible, evil dream!

She felt excitement and happiness and an overall good feeling surround her as her eyes shot open.

She didn't need to think twice before she sat up and prepared herself for a new day so that she could forget all about that nightmare.

When she sat up and looked around, she noticed that she was not in her bedroom. And what she was lying on was too small to be her bed. She looked around. There were her friends in this room, staring at her. She rubbed the tiredness from her eyes and saw them clearly.

Stan was sitting in a chair right beside her bed. Miyako was sitting on the bed she was lying on, and the rest of her friends—from Takuya all the way to Takuya's little brother, Shinya—were in the room with her, standing around her bed with strange expressions on their faces.

She felt something prick her right wrist. When she pulled it up to her, she realized there was an IV needle there.

"That's just to sedate you," Ken explained calmly as she stared at the needle. Hikari looked at him and wanted to respond, but as she opened her mouth she felt something brush against her lips. She put her hand up to her mouth: There was an airtube in her nose. There were also wires on her chest, beneath a strange white gown.

"That was to make sure you were getting enough oxygen," Kouji said, quietly.

"Your breathing wasn't exactly steady when we first brought you in," Takuya said softly. Hikari looked to her left and saw that a monitor was beeping beside her. This monitor was connected to wires on her chest. The screen displayed spikes which she noticed went up high as she inhaled.

"Hikari, you're in the hospital," Miyako said very gently, causing Hikari to turn her head to the girl. Hikari tried to study the girl's face. It wasn't happy at all. In fact, when the light hit her, the tear stains could clearly be made out on her fair skin.

Hikari wanted to speak, but she found her mouth was very dry. Before she even had to ask, she found a hand extending a glass of water to her.

"The doctor said that the sedative would give you a bit of dry mouth," Miyako said as Hikari gratefully took the cup from him. "There's more water by the table over there, so if you ever need some more…"

Hikari found herself gulping down the water. When she was done, Kouichi took the cup from her and placed it on the table beside her.

"Why am I here?" she had to clear her throat after she realized how tired and low her voice had sounded.

Every person in the room, excluding Hikari, exchanged looks with each other. It was subtle, but Hikari still noticed the way their eyes nervously turned to one another.

"You fainted yesterday," Miyako said, once again speaking very softly. "When we brought you in, your blood pressure was…well, it was almost morbidly high, so the doctors sedated you and decided to keep you over night. They also had to do a couple of blood tests, but they don't think it's anything too serious."

"Why'd I faint?" Hikari asked, wanting so badly to believe that she had just woken up from that horrible dream. Once again, everyone in the room darted their eyes to anything but Hikari. She felt somebody grab her left wrist. She stared into the maroon eyes of Daisuke.

"It was..." Daisuke trailed off, trying to gain the courage to tell her. "While the Takaishi's visited you. Right after they told you…"—Hikari had already started shaking her head vigorously as she felt the tears run out of her eyes—"about T.K."

Hikari jerked her hand away from Daisuke and brought them up to her face. She was so shocked that she didn't even register the fact that this was the first time she had heard Daisuke say TK's name properly instead of 'T.A.'or 'T.M.' or another such misomer. She heard Miyako tell everyone, except Daisuke, to leave the room to give her room to breathe. Every hot tear that hit her hurt so much. She felt herself break into pieces all over again as she accepted the reality…

…it was no nightmare…

"I'm so sorry, Kari," Daisuke said as he stood up and tried to hug his good friend. But she just pulled away into herself and brought her knees up to her chest, trying in a hopeless effort to collect herself.

"Why? Why are you sorry?" Hikari demanded angrily as she lifted her head and looked at Daisuke. "They don't know if T.K. was on that plane. It was another student who looked like him. T.K's alive! I know he is!" she cried through her sobs.

"We all wish that was true," Miyako said as she got up and walked over to Hikari's other side.

"You don't know that it's not! I have a connection with him that you guys don't. I feel him – he's alive!"

"Hikari, they…the policemen investigating the crash…they faxed the picture of the body of the boy they thought was T.K. to his parents. We all saw it this morning," Miyako said as the area around her eyes became red and puffy.

"…so?" Hikari demanded.

Miyako didn't need to say anything. Just the way more tears started to fall from her eyes said it all. And then Hikari turned to her good friend, but by the way he shook his head as she looked at him she realized it herself. Hikari felt her fists grab the sheets. She could feel her nails dig into her palms even through the cloth as she shook her head.

"Leave. JUST LEAVE!!!" she cried as she pressed back against the end of the hospital bed.

Daisuke looked alarmed. "Hey, hey, you gotta remain calm! Your blood pressure-"

"**I DON'T CARE! _LEAVE_!!!!**"

Daisuke and Miyako looked at each other. They decided not to try and relax her in this state, so the two of them left without another word.

Just moments after Miyako and Daisuke left, a woman who Hikari assumed was the doctor judging by her white coat came in followed by the Takaishi's (Mrs. Takaishi's face was still very red from crying and she was carrying a large handkerchief in her hands which she was using very frequently).

"I don't want to talk with anyone," Hikari said tersely before anyone could say a word as she quickly dried her eyes. Nevertheless, the three people surrounded her bed.

"We need to talk about your test results, Hikari," the doctor said as she sat down in the chair that Stan had been sitting in just moments earlier. "I'm Dr. Satomi, by the way," she said as she read through papers in a metal clipboard.

"If we're going to discuss that then can't they leave?" Hikari asked as her head nodded slightly in the direction of the Takaishi's.

"They're here to talk about the results, actually, and they demanded that they be allowed to talk with you," Dr. Satomi explained as she sighed and looked at Hikari.

"Why do they know the results of my test?"

"Mr. Takaishi has a good friend who works in the blood lab and, against hospital policy, he found out," Dr. Satomi said quietly.

"…Found out what?" Hikari asked. "There's nothing wrong with me."

"No, there's nothing wrong," the doctor said in a very reassuring voice as she stood up and came beside Hikari. "It's just… well, Mrs. Takaishi, you're pregnant. Just about two weeks, actually."

"But that's impossible," Hikari told the doctor. "I'm too young to be a mother. I don't even look pregnant. And I was using birth control."

"Mrs. Takaishi," the doctor said gently, "birth control is only at best around ninety-eight percent effective."

"And I wholeheartedly agree about you being too young to be a mother," Takeru's mother said. She looked at her husband and, after dabbing some tears away from her eyes, she said, "We think we should raise Takeru's child."

"Could you give us a moment?" Mr. Takaishi asked the doctor.

Dr. Satomi, realizing the family struggle that was about to occur, nodded before she added, "I'll be right outside the door. We still have to talk about your blood pressure."

Hikari once again could not believe what she was hearing. Once again, those stupid tears fell from her eyes as she took in what reality was giving her.

"I…just found out about the child. I don't even know -" Hikari started to say.

"Well, you can't possibly think that you're not going to carry the pregnancy to term!" Mrs. Takaishi cried as more and more tears fell from her puffy eyes. "This is Takeru's child!"

"I never said I wouldn't carry the child to term," Hikari replied as she tried uselessly to wipe her tears with her arm. "What I was going to say that I don't know where to go from here."

"Well, that's why we think we'd be better guardians for the baby," Mr. Takaishi said as Mrs. Takaishi went into one corner of the room to wipe her face. "We have better financial resources, not to mention more experience. You're so young, and have school."

"But you can't think that I would just hand over my child to you!" Hikari cried. "And I-I…I don't need school! Or I can be a part-time college student," she stammered.

"But you don't have the money to support a child. Takeru's back account was still under our family account at the time of his …accident," Mrs. Takaishi cried as she came over to Hikari. She dabbed her eyes furiously with her handkerchief as she said. "He didn't even have time to write a will." At that point her voice cracked and she was sobbing all over again.

"What she means to say is that his money was transferred back to us, and everything that he was paying for with that money, including his car and his apartment," Mr. Takaishi said as he took over.

Her heart was breaking again. This was too much. How could so much agony be put on one person? First the news about Takeru, and now, it just seemed as if the Takaishi's were getting joy out of adding insult to the injury that shared with her.

"Then take his money," Hikari sobbed. "But you can't have my child. I'll find a way. There's widow's insurance."

"Dear, you know that can't possibly be enough to support yourself and a young child," Mr. Takaishi said. "Maybe when you get more rest you'll see that what we're saying makes the most sense. You're young. Go out and enjoy the rest of your life, and we'll take good care of our grandchild."

"This baby is a blessing! It's a little piece of my son! The child deserves to grow up where it will be the happiest," Mrs. Takaishi said after she finished drying her tired eyes.

"That's with its mother!" Hikari cried. All of a sudden, she heard the monitor beside her beep louder and more frequently. Dr. Satomi immediately came in. She noticed the monitor and immediately went over to a drawer beside the machine. She pulled out an injection and after walking over to the other side of the bed, she started putting it into Hikari's IV bag.

"Mr. and Mrs. Takaishi, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Dr. Satomi said. Although hesitantly, they did leave, giving Hikari a chance to talk with the doctor alone.

"What's wrong?" Hikari asked.

"I'm giving you a fast-acting sedative. Your blood pressure is peaking dangerously again," the doctor said. "It's not healthy at all for the child, so you need to find a way to keep the stress off of you."

Hikari looked away from the doctor. She could feel her eyelids get heavier.

"I know about your husband, and I'm very sorry. But if you remain upset, and then let stress take over, you're killing your unborn child," Dr. Satomi said.

_I can't let that happen. It's the last piece of him I have left._ Hikari grabbed her stomach as she closed her eyes.

* * *

Three weeks later, Hikari was in her bedroom, packing everything on her side of the closet into the open suitcases on her bed.

She was in a trance, she thought. She just hadn't been able to think clearly at all in three weeks. Not a moment passed that she didn't think of him and nor did a night pass that she didn't cry her eyes out instead of sleeping.

But she was trying. Really. Miyako came over everyday since she was released from the hospital about two weeks ago. They would go out for lunch and then maybe see a movie or do shopping. Hikari needed that. She couldn't focus on the bad things.

And every day, one of her friends would bring a new gift for the baby. In fact, today's gift was from Tomoki and Shinya: a set of yellow and green blankets that came with matching pairs of yellow and green booties. Hikari looked at the gifts. They were lying there, so precious, on the other side of the bed.

She felt a tear on her face, and by instinct, she immediately wiped it away.

She hadn't been gaining weight, but then again the baby had to be about the size of a pea at the moment.

"Soon," she said as she touched her stomach. "I'll be so big, but it'll be so worth it. You and me. It'll be tight, but you'll have so many aunts and uncles who will love you like there's no tomorrow. And they'll tell you about your father, about how wonderful he was, and you will be so incredibly proud of him."

Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door.

"It's open," she called out as she walked over to her closet.

"Hikari," she heard Takuya's voice echoing throughout her empty apartment. "Wow I can't believe how open this place looks without any furniture," he said as he walked into her bedroom with a gift-wrapped package in his hands.

"Well, T.K bought all the furniture with his money, so his parents just returned it to the store. They just left twenty minutes ago with the whole dining room, actually. The bedroom goes in a couple of days," she said as she dumped a dress of hers into one of her suitcases.

"You look great," Takuya said as he sat down on an empty corner of her bed. Hikari, deciding that she could save the packing for later, sat down beside him. "My mother wanted me to tell you that she had never heard a speech like the one you gave at the funeral. It brought my dad to tears, actually. The only other thing in the world that can do that is chili peppers." He smiled.

Hikari smiled. "Thank you, Takuya."

"Do you need any help packing?" Takuya asked. Hikari shook her head.

"No. It's only really my clothes that I'm taking back to my parents' house," she explained.

"Are you returning to school?" Takuya asked. Once again, Hikari shook her head.

"It's bad enough that my family needs to help me pay for the baby. The added burden of tuition is too much for them," Hikari said as she traced the pattern of her bed sheet with her finger.

"So then it's true that the Takaishi's aren't helping at all with the baby?" Takuya asked indignantly. "I couldn't believe it so I had to hear it from you."

"They either want to raise the child by themselves or don't want anything to do with it at all." Hikari tried to change the topic. "Hey, what'd you bring?" she asked as she nodded at the gift in Takuya hands.

"Oh, yeah. Here you go," Takuya said as he gave the gift to Hikari. "It's a gift for you and the baby."

Hikari unwrapped the gift and stared at it. "A scent blanket?" she asked as she read the label.

"Yeah, it's really cool! You're supposed to sleep with it for a couple of weeks so that your scent rubs onto the blanket, and then when the baby is born, you're supposed to give the blanket to the baby. Your scent will help it fall asleep faster."

"That's so sweet, Takuya, thank you!" Hikari said as she put the blanket onto the pile of the other gifts. "You know these gifts are really saving me a ton of money, and I need all the help I can get in that department."

Takuya flashed Hikari a pained look, then rubbed his face with his palms.

"Everything alright?" Hikari asked as she watched Takuya's expression.

Takuya smiled to himself. "I should be asking you that. I've been thinking…there's no reason you should give up school."

Hikari's eyes softened as she was once again reminded that she would not be able to return to school in the fall. "Takuya, my family just can't afford a new child with the tuition of a university. Besides, the money will be going to something more worth it."

"What if you could go to school and raise this child in a wonderful life?" Takuya asked.

"Well, I'd have to win the lottery for that," Hikari said, trying to keep herself from getting upset.

"Unless…" Takuya replied, looking Hikari straight in the eyes.

"Unless…" Hikari repeated as she tried to understand.

"Hikari…" Takuya stood up and started to pace the small bedroom. "When I get married, I'm promised an inheritance. It's actually a really good amount of money. _Really good_. And if I'm not married that money just sits in a bank vault and gathers dust."

Hikari stood up and walked over to the man. "What are you suggesting, Takuya?"

Takuya closed his eyes. "Hikari, I think we should get married."

"…Are you feeling alright, Takuya? Did you bump your head?" Hikari asked as she tried touching his head to feel for any lumps. She then backed away as he shook his head.

"No, Hikari! Just think about what I'm saying. I can give you all that money, but I need to be married for that money to be transferred to my bank account. And the money can help you so much! It'll let you _buy_ a nice apartment and go to school and let the baby grow up with everything it'll ever need!" Takuya explained. When he saw the look on Hikari's face, he quickly supplied. "We don't have to live like a married couple at all! No! No! No! We'll be roommates and I'll help take care of the child!"

Hikari could not answer. This offer sounded so good. The ability to finish school and raise her child the way she wanted it to be raised…but that would mean marrying Takuya, and that would be the biggest sacrifice for him.

"I can't," Hikari answered, stepping farther away from him. "Thank you, but I can't."

"Hikari," Takuya said, "Think about this, it could do you so much good. And I'm not getting married to anyone anytime soon, that's for sure. This is the best thing I can do for you."

"But I can't! It's…ridiculous, ludicrous, just downright _absurd_!"

"It's not, really! Just think of it as a friendly gesture. We'll get divorced anytime you want and you'll get to keep the money," Takuya explained.

Hikari shook her head. "Please, Takuya. I can't… I don't want to burden you."

"…" He didn't answer. He wanted to tell her that it was nothing for him. He really wanted to, but that would be a lie. And he knew it.

"You needn't help me. I can make do," She lied. Takuya knew very well she wasn't telling the truth. She had just admitted this to him!

"The baby will need a father."

This made Hikari think. A father figure would be…perfect. A factor she thought wouldn't be possible.

Hikari paused… She spoke only two words, "Izumi Orimoto."

Takuya looked up, surprised. Why did she bring _her_ up?

"It's lovely, no?" Takuya asked. "If it's a girl, I think that will make a great name." He was changing the subject, and Hikari had to respect that.

"You'll never stop waiting for her, will you?" she asked.

Takuya turned his back to her. Hikari almost cried when she realized the grown man in front of her was crying came closer to Takuya, diminishing the distance between them.

"Please don't cry. I'll wait with you."

"So that's a yes?" Takuya asked, steadily, after a few minutes of silence. Hikari looked away. "Ok, you probably need more time…" he admitted to himself more than her.

"Not exactly, Takuya…the offer is so generous and it sounds wonderful," Hikari said as she thought.

Takuya sighed. "But?"

"It's just that this happened really fast… ok, ok," Hikari sat down on her bed. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes, I've never been surer of anything. I want to do this for you. Why not let me help you?" he asked as he sat down with her.

She looked at him. "I-I, guess I accept," she said finally.

"It doesn't have to be a big wedding," Takuya said. "It can be a court marriage. Or anything you want. I just want you to be ok."

Hikari bit her lip and thought about what had just occurred in the span of a few moments.

"Thanks to you, everything's going to be ok," Hikari said. She turned to Takuya and hugged him as tightly as she could. "It's going to be ok!"

"Exactly," Takuya said as he returned her hug.

* * *

**Three years later**

-

-

"And do you see what he did for me? What he gave up for me? The kindness he offered?" Hikari asked as she wiped more and more tears away from her face.

"Takeru, Christ, Hikari, I didn't even know… I had no idea," Izumi cried as tears fell freely from her eyes. "_Jesus Christ._" Izumi buried her face in her hands and felt the warm tears wet her palms.

"It was nice, actually," Hikari mused as she remembered the early days of her marriage to Takuya. "He and I went to separate colleges, but he used his money to buy an apartment for me to live on right next to campus. And he would visit almost every weekend…It was like that until we graduated a few months ago and moved into the house we live in now."

At Hikari's words, Izumi looked up, a sense of realization washing over her.

"Little Izumi…she's brilliant, just like her father. Oh, I should've seen it earlier," Izumi exclaimed, looking away. She couldn't help but shake her head. "I thought that you and Takuya…"

"I know what you thought," Hikari said as she stood up from the chair and walked over to Izumi. "He never forgot about you," she said softly. "His love. All that wonderful energy is still waiting for you. He sort of lent it to Little Izumi and me for a while, but it always belonged to you."

The hotel room was getting smaller for Izumi as she heard Hikari speak. She lifted her hand to her mouth as she finally realized what had been going on. She knew it now. The full story, even more than what Hikari was letting on.

Izumi stood up and walked to the other side of the hotel room. Hikari remained seated.

"So, Hikari, when did this happen?" Izumi asked quietly.

"When did what happen, Izumi?" Hikari asked, completely confused. "Didn't I just explain everything to you?"

Izumi stopped at the desk in the small room. She drummed her fingers across the surface of the dark wood as she took a deep breath. This was a lot to take in for one sitting. She turned around to face Hikari, still sitting on the bed with her hands clasped in her lap.

Izumi's voice cracked as she asked,

"Hikari, when did you fall in love with Takuya?"

-

-

_Ahh…yes…we dreamed a melody once_

_This perfect song of you and me…_

_And the world seemed so womderful, until_

_You decided to be…someone else_

_The view got hazy_

_The song stopped_

_The dream never happened_

_You came back_

_Why?_

_Chuujitsu? Is that what you had for me?_

家族忠誠


	10. Her Family

**Izumi**

The day had been filled with enough surprises to last her a lifetime…Every bit of her day, from the moment she had seen Takuya with his "daughter" to this moment, right here, in her hotel room which was shrinking every second….

…had in store for her a new twist…

Finding out about Takeru had taken the last bit of energy from her. Izumi, despite her sniffling to suppress her tears, was leaving tearstains on the surface of the room's desk. She was a wreck, she had been all day, she had been for 5 years.

Hikari's mouth was open, the same kind of look a girl would don anytime one of her most intimate secrets was thrown in front of the world for everyone to see. The way the brunette's eyes—those incredibly beautiful cherry orbs—shook as she stared at her once best friend…

"You…you haven't answered my question."

Izumi remained still as Hikari approached her hesitantly.

The look on Hikari's face…oh, she must have thought Izumi was insane. More tears fell from Izumi's eyes. Perhaps the Italian girl _had _gone way past her emotional limit. The day had been filled with one surprising slap in the face after another.

Izumi hated surprises.

It wouldn't be so bad if Hikari simply admitted it.

The way the girl's eyes glimmered with hope as she talked about Takuya and the way her voice became softer, so much gentler, as she spoke of the man, Izumi knew. It was so obvious, and it was so painful at the same time. Izumi would have that same glimmer in _her_ eyes and _she_ would get that same, gentle voice, but that was an eternity ago. It was when she was seventeen and she hadn't left. It was all before she lost hope.

"I am not in love with him."

Izumi lowered her head. Blonde wisps fell into her face.

"Sure, sure. That doesn't mean that you weren't allowed to love him."

"No-"

"I guess it's expected. Takuya's your husband after all…you raised Little Izumi together. You lived with him for all this time, so how am I to expect that you didn't grow some sort of attachment to him?"

"I've always thought of him as a-a friend. I'm not _in _love with him."

"It would be better if you just accepted it, because it would make your life so much easier, and an easy life is exactly what I want for you and Takuya."

Hikari's heart stopped.

"Izumi?"

* * *

**Takuya**

…did she even understand what all of this meant? How these five years seemed like a depression, but today, as much as he didn't want to admit, everything bad just washed away when he saw her figure standing in front of her family's old house.

"Father?"

The only reason these past five years hadn't sent him into depression was staring at him, intently. The two of them were sitting on an ornate bench in the hotel lobby. Little Izumi was kicking her legs excitedly as they swung in the air. She had been previously pre-occupied with trying to make the microphone Izumi had given her to turn on. Luckily, she hadn't figured that out, or else Takuya would have had another problem on his hands.

Or would he? To get Little Izumi to obey, it didn't take much. A simple warning in a reassuring voice, and the girl would understand and cease her actions immediately. She knew what the smarter course of action was. She was brilliant, Takuya noted, just like her father.

Little Izumi almost totally resembled Takeru. She had his blonde hair. It fell around her head in wispy layers that rested against her shoulders (and went just a little past into her back). Even her eye color was…when Takuya would look at pictures Hikari had of her first husband, Takeru's cool eyes jumped out at him. Their striking sky blue hue reflected in Little Izumi's eyes, just like his intelligence did through every figment of her body.

Takuya wondered if Takeru would approve of the name he had given the girl… He had never been serious about naming her Izumi.

In fact, every time he called his daughter's name, he was reminded of that day five years ago when a piece of him left to fly off to Italy. Thus, he had never been able to call her just 'Izumi'.

"Are you gonna miss her?"

He put a hand in his daughter's hair and ruffled it.

"Yeah."

"You loved her, right?"

"No."

"But, mother said she was the only girl you ever loved!" Her voice was the indignant kind a child would use when asking why they couldn't open their Christmas presents a night early.

"Mother was wrong." He ruffled the girl's hair again as he sighed.

"So you really didn't love her?" Despite her intelligence, there was only so much a little girl could take before giving in. If her father didn't love Big Izumi, then there was so much she was confused about.

"No."

"Oh." It was as if someone had told her Santa Claus wasn't real. Little Izumi leaned back against the wall and tried to distract herself with the microphone.

"I still do."

* * *

**Izumi**

"It's the least you deserve after what you've been through over the past few years. I want you and Takuya to have an easy life together."

"But don't you want…" Hikari trailed off, staring at Izumi questioningly.

"Forget about me. I'll be gone before you know it. Be healthy, be happy, et cetera, et cetera," Izumi explained, forcing a smile.

"But you love him!"

Izumi shrugged stiffly.

Hikari was torn. How to get Izumi to stay—satisfying what she knew was Takuya's wish—while keeping her own happiness in mind. These thoughts made Hikari feel selfish…but what else was she supposed to do?

Their life, though very unorthodox, had been steady over the past few years. In a good financial situation, good house, amazing husband, genius daughter…It was all so perfect.

But when _she_ came back…The moment Hikari had found out she had returned…

Hikari knew that this wasn't going to be an easy day.

And she knew Izumi was right. It wasn't exactly a secret to Hikari, but it felt weird when someone else told her that they saw it, too. She couldn't admit it, though…it would just crush Izumi's spirits even more. She didn't know if she could do that.

"I-"

She was cut off. Both girls turned to the room's door, where a knock had interrupted Hikari.

Izumi walked over to the door and looked through the hole. After noting who it was, she unlocked the door and let them in.

Little Izumi ran to her mother's leg while Takuya stood in the doorway nervously..

"Yes, Takuya?" Hikari asked. Izumi thought again about just leaving. Once again, she was the piece that didn't belong.

"I need to talk to Izumi."

Hikari mulled it over. Out of all the people Izumi probably wanted to see when she returned to Japan, Takuya was the most important.

But the thought of Takuya and Izumi alone together made Hikari's heart squeeze in an uncomfortable way.

Hikari's smile was too wide for it to be real, but no one felt the need to point out her obvious saddened disposition. "Alright, Takuya. Come on, Little Izumi."

With that said, the woman walked with all the dignity she could muster to the door and through it with Little Izumi happily following in her footsteps with a slight skip in her step. Izumi closed the door with a little frustration.

"Hey, Izu-chan."

"Kanbara," she said.

"Did Hikari tell you about TK and the Takaishi's?"

What she was just told about Takeru almost made Izumi cry again. "Yes."

Takuya fidgeted. Perhaps coming to talk to Izumi wasn't such a good idea. Little Izumi had thought it was, though._ This is the last time I'll take advice from a three-year-old._

"You did a good thing for Hikari. You gave her everything when she needed it the most," Izumi said sincerely. "Thank you for that. For helping her. It was very selfless. I couldn't expect any less from you."

Takuya was flattered, yet confused. A minute ago, she seemed furious that he wanted to talk to her. Now, she was complimenting him?

"Well, thank you. It was nothing. I know you would've found a way to help her if you were there."

"I was far away, and it was my choice to leave, which brings me to what's happened in the past few years… you've built a perfect life for yourself. Don't throw away what you have had with Hikari for the past three years because you've seen me for a day."

"I don't love her. At least, not the way a husband should love his wife," he said. It was as if he was ashamed of himself.

"Then try, Takuya, please just try."

"I love _you_. I loved you a week ago, a year ago, five years ago…And it was my fault that I didn't understand what you meant when you told me those very same words."

Izumi looked down. She remained quiet and unnaturally still.

"And I still love you," he said.

"I love you too," she said slowly.

As Takuya came closer to her, Izumi stepped backwards.

"What are you doing?"

He came closer, she stepped away.

"Takuya, I can't ever let us grow any closer than we are now."

* * *

**Hikari**

Hikari pressed her back against the hallway wall and felt like crying. She squeezed her eyes together to stop the tears.

What could two people who loved each other be doing in a hotel room, anyway?

This thought made Hikari want to knock on the door and pull her husband out. Yes. _Her_ husband. What right did Izumi have to him?

And would he really be willing to give up their life together for the sake of Izumi?

"Mother, you should really stop crying."

"Not now, sweetie," Hikari replied. She pressed her back even harder against the door and let herself slide down. She fell on the floor with a thud and let her head fall onto her knees.

"Big Izumi told me it was good to let out your feelings and that I shouldn't keep them inside, but mother, I don't like seeing you cry. There, there, mother. It will be alright. Father and Big Izumi are going to get married!"

Hikari looked up. "We don't know that they're going to get married."

"But they're in love. That means they _have_ to get married, right mother?"

Hikari looked away from her daughter. She wanted to say _not necessarily_. She wanted to tell her daughter that Takuya couldn't just leave them. It wasn't _fair_.

But she didn't say anything. She put her head down on her knees once again and shrugged.

"I think I'd like to sing at their wedding. That sounds like fun. Mother, maybe you can dance at the wedding?! You like to dance right? It'll be fun, mother. I can imagine it now…"

* * *

**Izumi**

"Izumi, don't be _stubborn_," Takuya scoffed. "You're not going to ruin anything."

Izumi walked around to the far edge of her bed and sat down.

"He says I'm not going to ruin anything… hah! That's what you think. Have you asked your wife?"

"About what?"

"What do you think? She's not just going to let you walk out of this family that you have made with her… And I really don't think you should, either. It's not right."

"I don't love her. And she'll get all the money we have after the divorce. It's not like I'll be leaving her with nothing," he said indignantly.

"She doesn't want the money, though."

"No, I guess not. She's not a materialistic person."

"So_… so__…_"

"So_…_?"

"So do you know what she wants? Do you know why she wouldn't want you to leave her?"

Takuya crossed his arms

"No idea. I don't owe her anything."

He looked at her.

"Do you know?"

Izumi turned and looked at the window. She tried to hear if the thunderstorm had ceased. It sounded like there was no rain.

…_but…_

"She loves you. Hikari's in love with _you_."

…_just as she said that…_

A big bolt of lightning illuminated the room.

For a millisecond, Izumi's eyes were lime as the lightning filled the entire room with a burst of light.

Caramel stared at lime. They widened in understanding and shock.

"Hikari," Takuya said her name as if it were some sort of foreign word. He never got the vibe that she was in love with him. Then again, he reminded himself, even when a girl told him she loved him he didn't get the romantic undertone. _How could I be so stupid?_

"I was considering staying before I realized how much she cared for you. Then I decided that I couldn't break a happy home. I don't want that on my shoulders."

"So you're leaving?"

"Yes. By this time tomorrow, I'll be in Rome. I'm going on the first flight out."

"You barely got a chance to catch up with everyone!"

"Takuya… just leave."

'We need to talk about so much… I can't just leave you now." The boy grabbed her shoulder and looked straight into her eyes. Izumi, however, immediately shook him off and stalked over to the door.

"Leave."

"Izumi, don't be ridiculous. There's so much to say."

"Not really. Leave or I'll call security!"

* * *

**Hikari**

Hikari nearly got a whiplash from turning her head so quickly. She had not been expecting the door to open.

She heard Takuya's voice. He was clearly trying to plead something to Izumi. However, within a few seconds, Takuya walked out of the door, and as soon as he was out of the room, the door slammed quickly behind him.

"Father!" Little Izumi exclaimed. She yawned.

"Let's go home, father."

She was looking at him expectantly, unsure if the news was good or bad. She was biting her lip, and he could make out tear stains on her heart-shaped face.

Hikari was asking him what happened without speaking. Takuya looked down.

"It'll be alright, Takuya," she said to the man she loved so very dearly. It was evident in her voice, and Takuya picked up on it. She didn't seem glad that Izumi was leaving, but her voice wasn't exactly depressed either. Takuya didn't blame her. Hikari was entitled feelings and she was entitled happiness.

However, Takuya thought, he was entitled his happiness, too.

* * *

**Izumi**

The wait in the airport terminal was brutal. She'd do anything to just board the plane and go, without the agony of extra time. With extra time just came extra, unwanted thoughts.

That's why she was glad she had a book. Though, the book didn't distract her enough. Of all the stupid choices she had ever made, choosing a romance book to read during this wait had to be one of her worst. Every time she had to read about the stupid heroine who was in love with the stupid boy and how the stupid boy loved her but they couldn't get together for some stupid reason…love stories were so stupid.

She closed the book and stuffed it into her bag. She pulled out her cell phone and checked the time.

_5:47_

They were supposed to board the flight 32 minutes ago.

"Now boarding for Flight 563 to Rome. Now boarding for Flight 563 to Rome. All passengers, please report to Gate 17. All passengers, please report to Gate 17."

Izumi eagerly put her phone back into her bag and stood up. She pulled the bag over her shoulder and walked—with a slight limp due to the weight of the bag—to Gate 17. She got a feeling of satisfaction. It wasn't necessarily a good feeling, but if felt as though she had finally finished something. Like she had gotten some sort of closure. It wasn't a good feeling, but she lived with a lot of bad feelings. And she had turned out fine.

Fine.

Any feeling of satisfaction was completely washed away when she saw who was standing before the gate, waiting for her in a semicircle of doom.

Kouichi, Shinya, Tomoki, Ken, Daisuke, Miyako, JP, and Kouji, with Hikari, Takuya and Little Izumi in the center.

_Shit._

Izumi gripped the strap around her shoulder. She glanced at all of them, slightly angered that they had the nerve to come and try and stop her.

Without another word and a very deep breath, she stepped forward again, pushing between Takuya and Hikari as she moved.

She could see the woman at the gate entrance, collecting tickets. She was so close. She could feel herself sitting on the veranda of her Italian house, sipping an iced tea as she typed up another article, enjoying the gentle breeze of the Mediterranean sunset. It was to be hers in a matter of hours.

"If you love father, then why are you leaving?"

"Little Izumi, even you wouldn't understand."

"You were the princess! Father was the prince! You were supposed to have a fairytale wedding and I was supposed to sing at it! Big Izumi, I think I understand this perfectly!"

Izumi turned around completely. Little Izumi had broken away from the rest of the group and was standing a couple of feet in front of her.

Big Izumi leaned down. She gestured with her finger for Little Izumi to come closer.

"Come here."

Little Izumi obeyed. When she was close enough, Big Izumi hugged the child. At that moment, everyone noticed how similar the girls looked. Little Izumi's hair had a more golden glow compared to Big Izumi's platinum shine, but to passerby a distance away, they looked like mother and daughter.

The two Izumis stayed in this embrace for a few seconds. Big Izumi seemed to be crying, but her face was buried in the little girl's hair. Big Izumi pulled away after a moment. As she wiped a tear from her eyes, she continued to stare at the little girl.

"The grown-ups haven't gotten together like this with everyone in one place since mother and father's anniversary party. Mother and father said they really weren't as close since you left before. But they came for you. Everyone did, you see. And that means you're special!"

Izumi looked down. She didn't enjoy being the cause of a little girl's pain.

"You can't leave if you're that special," whispered Little Izumi.

"Remember what I told you about always keeping your feelings open, okay? The princess doesn't always end up with the prince."

"I'll still miss you," the little girl said. She never had to say goodbye to anyone before. It hurt to think that she would never see this green-eyed princess anymore.

"Thank you. I'll miss you too."

Big Izumi stood up. "Hikari, good luck with your family and whatever else you choose to do. And, please call her Izumi from now on. She doesn't need to be reminded of 'Big' Izumi."

"Thank you."

Izumi bowed to Kouichi.

"Kouichi, you made my day so much better yesterday. Thank you."

"Izumi, you don't have to leave," Kouichi said softly.

_Ignore him_, Izumi told herself. She turned to JP.

"JP, I'll always keep a special place for you in my heart. Thank you for listening to me all those years ago. I'll never forget you."

JP looked away as he mumbled, "You're welcome, Izumi."

Izumi then glanced at the rest of the adults. Kouji and Miyako and Tomoki and Shinya and Daisuke and Ken. She tried to etch the memory of them standing there forever into the confines of her mind.

For a moment, just watching all of them gave her a strong urge to rip up her boarding pass.

"Last call for Flight 563 to Rome. Last call for Flight 563 to Rome."

"Five years ago, I did a selfish thing by leaving. Now, the selfish thing would be for me to stay."

"Thank you, all of you, for reminding me of what selflessness could be"

Izumi bowed. She stayed that way for a good minute, letting gravity pull all her tears away from her face. "Takuya, Takuya Kanbara," she sobbed, "I'm so sorry…! Please… learn to love her… She's one of the best. Love her and try to give Little Izumi a normal family. Please!"

When she resurfaced, everyone seemed to be crying, or at least had tears in their eyes. Takuya and Izumi made eye contact.

"Stay with me."

She turned swiftly and walked toward the gate. There, she reached into her bag and gave her boarding pass to the woman at the podium. As she was cleared to board, she nearly ran into the entrance of the plane.

Without once looking back, she boarded the plane.

* * *

**Takuya**

"She's doing what she thinks is best for you, Takuya. This is what she thinks is right," Kouji said consolingly.

"I tried so hard to convince her that she didn't need to leave. I want to marry her," Takuya explained as his face fell into his hands. Kouji leaned back into his seat. It felt like déjà vu. He was the one who tried to calm Takuya down a few days after Izumi left five years ago.

Takuya glanced up. Across from him, Hikari was sitting in another row of seats, looking depressed.

"Hey, Hikari. I don't blame you for anything."

Hikari looked up, looking rather startled. Her bright cherry eyes still shook with tears.

"Oh… thank you," she replied, feeling a little relieved.

"Guys, look! The plane," JP said as he watched a massive plane start moving down the runway.

Takuya, Kouji, and Hikari stood up immediately as they joined the others by the window.

JP trembled. That plane was taking Izumi away to the other side of the world. Izumi may have never returned his feelings, but she was still his first and only love. JP turned away from the window, unable to watch.

"Do you think she'll be happy?" Hikari asked Miyako as they all watched the plane lift off.

Miyako said nothing.

"No. Big Izumi won't be happy."

"Why do you say that, Li—Izumi? She can start a new life there."

"Yeah, maybe, mother, but her family is here."

"Her family?" Takuya asked as he glanced at the little girl.

"_Chuujitsu_, Father. _Chuujitsu. _It was very obvious that she loved all her friends very much, so much that to her, her friends are also family. Why else would she be crying like that when she was leaving? _Chuujitsu_. You're loyal to your family, right? And you're supposed to love your family, right? Everyone she cared for is here, I think. So until she makes more friends, her family will remain here…"

The little girl kept her eyes on the sky as all the adults around felt a little more reassured that Izumi would be happy, ultimately.

Both of them.

* * *

**Izumi**

It was apparently foggy wherever they were flying over. All she could see outside her window was a gray mist. It was a little depressing, but Izumi promised that she wouldn't let herself get too sad anymore.

She had enough tears yesterday to last her for a lifetime.

She hated tears.

Izumi pulled down the shade for her window.

So, she decided to pull out her iPod. Perhaps a little classical music would make her feel better. Whenever her father played it, her spirits seemed to relax a little.

Any hopes of relaxing, though, were wiped away when she put her headphones in. As she turned her iPod on, a ringing started running through her ears.

Izumi pressed a button and moved onto the next song.

Again, a buzzing started to fill her ears.

She went to the next song.

It was the same thing.

The song after that, the same thing.

Izumi pulled out the headphones. Maybe they had gone faulty or something. However, even with the headphones in her hands, the strange noise continued in her ears.

She felt a little indignant. What was with first class these days? The round-trip tickets to Japan and back were certainly not cheap, and with the investment she made in said tickets, she expected a decent, noiseless ride. And what was worse, the noise seemed to be getting louder.

Izumi looked down the aisle to see if any of the other passengers noticed the sounds. Strangely, though, they were all conversing or watching the on-flight movie or doing something that told Izumi they weren't affected by the noise.

Slowly, their voices were being drowned out by the noise. She tried moving her head to every direction, but nevertheless, her ears continuously rang as if she were standing beside a bee hive.

She heard tinnitus was caused by stress. Perhaps she would see if the airline carried any medicine for this malady, even though she remembered that there really was no treatment for this disorder.

Izumi stood up quickly. She practically tripped into the aisle, getting frantic as the noise got louder.

A hassled-looking flight attendant approached her.

"Miss, we _do_ have a button you can press if you need assistance."

Izumi practically had to strain to hear her above the noise. "My ears!" she cried.

The woman grabbed Izumi's hand and dragged her over to her little row. "Perhaps you're tired, Miss? I'll be happy to bring you a pillow, but first you must return to your seat."

"No, you don't understand! There's something wrong!" Izumi didn't care that that was one of the worst things one could say on a plane. And with her voice being a little loud, the nearby passengers became more than a little jittery.

The flight attendant realized the damage control she needed to do.

"Please, Miss, I'll bring you some sleeping pills. Hmmm? How's that sound? In the meantime, you can look at the pretty sky outside." she lifted the shade. "It's a little cloudy outside today. But it's a nice and brisk way to start your morning."

Izumi pulled away from the woman. Perhaps it was the ringing in her ears, but the attendant's voice sounded like it was being done on a Mr. Microphone…

As the attendant continued to pester Izumi to look out the window, Izumi noticed more and more that the woman's voice was becoming less audible. They started to sound like a buzzing. Izumi stared at the attendant incredulously.

A second later, everything around her turned black and all she could hear was the buzz…

_Buzz_

_Buzz_

_Buzz_

-

-

-

-

-

The seventeen-year-old Izumi awoke with a jolt.

**i suggest you read the epilogue now.**


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

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**Izumi**

She stared at the sheets around her. They were too lush to be that of the hotel. And the fact that she was on a bed reassured her she wasn't on the plane anymore.

In fact, as she took in the surroundings, she realized exactly where she was:

Her bedroom.

But not the one she had in Italy. No, this was the bedroom of her house she lived in when she was a teenager. She was in Japan.

This bedroom, though, did not look like it had been abandoned for five years. It looked fresh. It had her clothes were hanging in her closet and a couple of books lying open on her desk and a bunch of hair accessories arranged in height order on the vanity.

She noticed her chest was heaving. She seemed a little short of breath. Trying to figure out what was going on, she stepped off her bed.

She walked closer to the vanity, wondering why everything looked just as how she left it five years ago. Even the scrunchie she borrowed from Hikari all those years ago was lying next to one of her hairbrushes.

She picked up the scrunchie and started to examine it. It still had a small strand of her blonde hair in it.

And then she looked in the mirror.

She dropped the scrunchie as she reached out and touched her reflection, pressing her fingers against her seventeen-year-old face.

She ran a finger through her hair. It was shorter when she was seventeen. It fell to her shoulders in layers.

She stared back around the room. There was no suitcase. There was no passport. She didn't look as though she was preparing to leave. And then it sunk in.

Forgetting that she was still only in a nightgown, she ran into the hallway. The calendar on the wall was set on a date five years ago. She quickly ran down the stairs and into the foyer. Then she practically tore the door open and ran through. It was raining. Izumi didn't seem to mind at all. She was seventeen. She had never left.

She looked up at the sky and noticed the cool raindrops against the warm tears on her face. But these were tears of happiness, and they were most definitely welcome.

She practically twirled in the walkway of her mansion, continuously crying. It all seemed too perfect to be true. She pinched herself a hundred times over on all different parts of her body, but she wasn't waking.

But then it all stopped. Izumi stopped her twirling as she noticed a little girl walking on the other side of the sidewalk behind her house's iron gates.

She was young. Around three years old, at most. Her hair fell in feathery, golden blonde layers around her face and well into her back. She walked with a distinctive skip in her step.

_No_, Izumi thought, panicking. She hesitantly approached the iron gates of her house and gripped one of the bars.

She didn't breathe as she watched the girl. For a second, she wanted to call out her name and ask her what she was doing at such an hour. She should've been with one of her parents. Was Hikari anywhere around?

Just as Izumi was about to speak, another voice rang out.

"Oh, Akiko! Akiko, come back here! How many times do I have to tell you not to run away like that from me? You silly girl…"

Izumi's grip on the iron bars loosened as she watched a woman who was clearly not Hikari reach out and pick up the girl who was clearly not…

Izumi closed her eyes and smiled to herself. She let go of the bar and decided to go back inside.

As she got to her front door, her mother was standing there with a cup of coffee in her hands.

"You were studying late last night, weren't you? You get three hours of sleep and this is what happens to your mentality."

"Actually, mother, the sleep I got last night felt more like five years to me. Can you drive me to school?"

* * *

**Hikari**

As soon as Takeru walked through the doors of the high school, a chestnut brown-and-pink bullet attacked him.

A couple of his fellow basketball teammates let out rowdy whistles as she embraced him, practically crying into his collared shirt.

"H-h-Hikari! W-what's going o-on?" Takeru asked as a blush graced his face. "Is everything alright?"

"Of course, silly," Hikari explained as she looked up. From the way her cherry eyes were filled with tears, Takeru could tell there was something much more profound going on here.

"I just missed you, that's all."

"But you just saw me yesterday," he said, confused.

"It felt like five years, T.K!" she wailed.

"Five years? I guess I can be pretty darn missable."

"T.K.?"

"What?"

"Promise me that if we ever have kids, we're never naming our daughter Izumi?"

o.0

"Ehhh-!?"

"Promise!"

"…But it just seems like such an unusual question-"

"Takeru Takaishi, if you _don't_ promise me-"

"Ok, Hikari, I promise that if we ever have kids, we'll never name our daughter Izumi. Though it is a lovely name, I suppose."

"T.K.!"

"What? Ok. I didn't know it was such a touchy topic."

* * *

**Takuya**

Izumi wasn't on the bus this morning. JP hadn't spoken with her since yesterday.

Takuya was feeling panicked.

After waking up from a dream like _that_, he needed reassurance. He needed to talk with one person desperately to know that their friendship could possibly evolve into something much more.

But, after seeing her not on the bus, there was only so much he could jump to. She wouldn't leave without telling JP, would she?

"And I was apparently the manager of a restaurant where the two of you worked," Takuya heard Miyako tell Daisuke and Ken as he turned a hallway corner.

"Right, and I was an incredible soup chef. Daisuke could only make rotten fish," Ken responded, laughing.

"My sushi was ten times better than your soup du eww!"

"So you guys are saying we all had the same dream?" Kouji asked as he came beside Daisuke and Ken.

"It looks like it," Kouichi replied as he stepped beside Miyako.

The group of teens standing there looked at each other nervously.

"Has anyone seen Izumi?" Miyako asked.

As if someone had answered his prayers, he saw her. She was leaning against his locker. They all fell quiet as Takuya approached her, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Uhh..you weren't answering your phone. I tried to call you a whole bunch. W-w-what I mean is that when I didn't see you on the bus, I was worried, you know? That maybe you were sick… or something."

"Don't worry about it. Hey, I need to talk to you-"

"Izumi, I need to tell you something. I love you. It's not just as a friend. I've never felt this way about anyone before; it's kind of scary… Scary in a good way."

Everyone cheered as Izumi kissed him on the cheek, smiling shyly. "Takky, that's exactly what we need to talk about."

** im smiling so hard right now!! its the ****end of my best and unfortunately last takumi fanfiction!****  
**thanks: Sightbent, agoodcupoftea, co426e, dbzgtfan2004, xoxo Juniebug, Red Page, and Ambiekinz for the reviews! i love you all, yeah? stay cool!

**i dont care if you hate the ending! im sorry but i just dont give a sh-hoot. it was planned to all be a dream from the start, you know. sad endings make me angry.  
title translation: of 家族忠誠 in 家族忠誠: Her Family:**

家族 roughly means "of chuujitsu", which means "of loyalty"  
忠誠 means family. so its like.. Of Family Chuujitsu.. do you get it? it means a story of family loyalty. i added the 2nd part for an english translation, i dont want people thinkin this is written in japanese hah. i can speak english.. and latin.. and pig latin.. and japanese.. but i only write fluently in_ english_!


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